Mewthree
by Mattachu
Summary: Set a short time after the events of Black 2 and White 2, this story follows Gold many years after his victory over the Indigo League. Although he thwarted Team Rocket's renewed plans, evil is again stirring in the world of Pokémon... Although primarily based on the games, this story will include elements from the anime and manga
1. Prologue

Blackthorn City – home of the Dragon masters since time immemorial. Although a famous location in the Johto region, the settlement is all but cut off from the outside world; surrounded by daunting mountains on all sides, access is gained almost exclusively through the Ice Path. Only experienced Pokémon trainers are daring enough to attempt such a treacherous hike, however, in order to challenge Blackthorn's incumbent Gym Leader - Clair.

In this seclusion, members of the Dragon clan practice the difficult art of raising their mighty Pokémon, watched over by the elders of the Dragon's Den. Most of them hope one day to attain a level of skill that enables them to take the Pokémon League challenge and battle Lance, Blackthorn's most famous resident, and Champion of the Indigo Plateau. On this night, however, all of the Dragon trainers were distracted from their training.

It started without warning – a purple Shadow Ball shot from the side of a mountain, piercing the roof of the Pokémon Centre. Then, almost immediately afterwards, a SolarBeam from another mountainside destroyed one of the traditional wooden houses in which all of the city's inhabitants lived. Soon, attacks of every conceivable element rained down upon the city, sending most of the residents running in sheer terror for the refuge of the Dragon's Den. A few of the town's most experienced trainers – Lady Claire herself, along with her apprentices – flew to the mountains on their Pokémon to try and detain whoever or whatever was attacking the city, but to no avail; wherever they arrived, an attack was thrown at the city from another mountain.

After about 5 minutes, the assault ended, as suddenly as it had begun. Blackthorn City was in flames; not a single building was left standing, even the fortress-like Gym. The search began immediately for the missing. The wounded, both humans and Pokémon, were carried to the remains of the Pokémon Centre in hopes of treatment.

From the highest peak of the mountains surrounding the destroyed city, a cloaked figure watched the ensuing chaos. As the first rays of dawn light shone over the mountains, however, it flew down into the valley beyond and away from the ruined city.

Only hours later did the residents notice, above the entrance to the Dragon's Den, a black R scorched into the grey rock of the mountainside.


	2. Chapter One

Stark Mountain – the northernmost point of Sinnoh's Battle Zone. The ash falling from the volcano darkened the sky, giving the place an almost sinister atmosphere. The Battle Zone itself is a popular tourist destination, drawing many spectators to the island's Battle Frontier competitions; however, due to the horribly powerful Pokémon and harsh environment of the mountain, only those who have prevailed over Sinnoh's Champion, Cynthia, are permitted to train in the surrounding areas. One such Trainer was battling in the foothills of Stark Mountain as our story begins…

A mating pair of Rhydon were slowly advancing on the red-jacketed human who had ventured into their territory, growling threateningly at the intruder. He merely smiled in response, unclipping a Poké Ball from each side of his belt.

"Let's go, Typhlosion! Sunflora!" said Gold, hurling the Poké Balls towards the oncoming Rhydon.

The Poké Balls opened in a flash of light, as the two Pokémon were unleashed – the Volcano Pokémon roaring loudly as his back flames burst into life, and the Sun Pokémon smiling as she danced in circles. The Rhydon, angry at the intrusion, charged the two new Pokémon.

"Sunflora, Sunny Day! Typhlosion, buy some time with SmokeScreen!" shouted Gold.

Typhlosion inhaled deeply, before blasting the thick black mixture of ash and smoke from its mouth at the Rhydon. The charging Pokémon skidded to a halt, confused by their sudden blindness. Meanwhile, Sunflora's dance became more vigorous as she jumped and span happily. The ash in the sky above parted, allowing the afternoon sun to glare down onto the rugged field beneath. Both of Gold's Pokémon seemed invigorated by the sudden brightness, almost glistening in the sunlight. Gold himself looked up into the sky, shading his eyes with his hand and smiling.

"Excellent," he said to himself, his attention returning to the battlefield as the cloud around the two wild Pokémon dissipated, their rage renewed as they saw their foes again, "Time to finish this! Typhlosion, Fire Punch! Sunflora, SolarBeam!"

Typhlosion ran headlong at the larger of the two Rhydon, his fist ablaze, and caught it squarely on the cheek. Although the Rhydon felt nothing of the punch's heat through its stony skin, the force of the blow sent it hurtling backwards, knocking its mate to the ground with it. Sunflora smiled brightly, absorbing the sunlight as its petals swelled with stored power. As the Rhydon were knocked to the floor, her face shone with intense light, and a light-green beam of energy erupted from her mouth. The ground beneath the Rhydon exploded as the Pokémon were hit with the full force of the blow, roaring in pain. As the dust subsided, the two defeated Pokémon took the opportunity to flee, disappearing into the ash-coated undergrowth.

"Good job, guys," Gold said, approaching his Pokémon and patting them both on the back, "At this rate we'll be more than a match for all the trainers in Unova."

The three sat down, Gold petting his Pokémon as he reminisced about the past few years. Once he had defeated the strongest trainers of Kanto and Johto, his thoughts had immediately turned to the Pokémon Leagues of other regions. He'd slowly fought his way through the Gym Leaders of Hoenn and Sinnoh, and after several years had succeeded in beating both Wallace and Cynthia. Now, in search of his next challenge, he had resolved to set off for Unova. His ferry ticket from the Fight Area was booked for the next day, so he had decided to do some last minute training before his departure.

"I think you guys have earned a treat," Gold said, getting to his feet, "How about we head to the Ribbon Syndicate and get you a massage?"

Typhlosion and Sunflora both growled happily in agreement as Gold returned them to their Poké Balls. He felt the other Poké Balls in his belt vibrate slightly too; his Pokémon had been fighting hard all day, and were excited at the thought of some well-earned rest and relaxation.

Gold took his scooter from his backpack and unfolded it; the sun had started to disappear behind Stark Mountain, and although the ride back to the Resort Area would involve travelling through the desert in the twilight, he wanted to take in the Sinnoh scenery one last time before he headed off to the distant land of Unova. As he headed back down the mountain, the ash falling from the sky gave way to the perpetual sandstorm of Route 228, forcing him to pull his goggles down over his eyes.

Near the edge of the desert, Gold could just make out the twinkling lights of the Resort Area down the hill. Before he could make his way down through the woods, however, he felt himself falling from his scooter as something heavy slammed into his side. He landed hard on the sand, the wind knocked out of him by the force of the blow, and shakily tried to stand up again. No sooner had he gotten to his feet than another blow hit him in the back, throwing him once again to the ground. Still lying face-down on the sand, Gold reached down to his belt and pressed a button on one of the Poké Balls.  
"Togekiss, I need some help here!" he pleaded as the Jubilee Pokémon flew from his Poké Ball, sitting in front of Gold to shield him from the unseen assailant. Gold got slowly and painfully to his feet once again, as both he and Togekiss looked around to see who had attacked him.

"Show yourself!" Gold shouted, his voice echoing against the desert rocks until the sandstorm once again swallowed up the noise. He scowled with a mixture of anger and fear, determined to find the attacker.

"Ugh, that does it!" he said finally, "Togekiss, Aura Sphere!"

A shimmering blue ball of energy flew from Togekiss's mouth into the depths of the sandstorm, striking an object not far from Gold with a resonating bang. When the sand kicked up by the impact settled, Gold saw the large green sphere of Protect fade away, as something approached him through the sandstorm. Upon seeing the dark cloaked figure floating towards him, he thought at first that it was a freakishly large Shuppet. However, this creature had no horn, and instead of the Ghost-type's big eyes, two shining blue lights alone were visible under the hood where Gold assumed its head must be. From the back of the cloak, a long tail was flicking around.

Gold drew his Pokédex from his pocket as the creature slowly advanced. However, the screen only displayed static and the message 'No information'. _What are you?_, Gold wondered, starting to sweat despite the coldness of the night. He had faced up to many strong foes in the past, even legendary Pokémon, but none of them had inspired such fear within him.

"Togekiss, Aura Sphere again!" Gold ordered, a slight quiver now evident in his voice. The Aura Sphere once again hit its target; however, rather than recoiling in pain, the creature seemed to absorb the attack, shimmering with an eerie light beneath its cloak. Gold thought that he could make out a vaguely humanoid form before a bolt of energy flew from the creature back at Togekiss, knocking him out and throwing him back a few metres. Gold ran to his side and returned his fallen friend to his Poké Ball.

"That was Mirror Coat," Gold said, half to himself and half to the creature still floating before him, "You must be a Pokémon, but the Pokédex doesn't recognise you…"

Gold couldn't understand how his highly-trained Togekiss could be downed in just one hit. His fear and confusion prevented him from moving as the Pokémon slowly advanced towards him. It was a little shorter than him, but as it hovered above the ground it looked him straight in the eye, getting so close that he could feel its warm breath on his face. Over the noise of the worsening sandstorm, he almost thought he could hear the creature's laughter inside his head. Then, as suddenly as it had first appeared, the creature flew up into the sky without warning, and was soon shielded from view by the sand.

Trying his best to stop himself from shaking, Gold staggered back to his scooter and headed as fast as he could in the direction of the Resort Area, desperate to reach the Pokémon Centre. He could hardly remember the last time he had been so terrified.


	3. Chapter Two

Gold arrived at the Pokémon Centre in the Resort Area completely exhausted. He almost collapsed on the front desk as he handed his Poké Balls to the worried nurse, who had a Chansey tend to his injuries. As the Egg Pokémon treated him while he sat in the main hall, he fished in his pocket for his Pokégear. The screen showed that his mother had tried calling him a dozen times earlier in the day. He couldn't help but smile; he'd been to see her a few days ago before departing for Sinnoh on the way to Unova, but she was obviously still worried about her 'little boy' (even though he was turning 17 soon). Pokégear signal was notoriously bad outside of the Tohjo continent, with Sinnoh favouring the Pokétch network instead. Still, his mother was probably still worried that he hadn't picked up…

Once the Chansey was satisfied that Gold was alright, he called home on one of the Pokémon Centre's video phones. His mom's face on the screen was a mixture of joy and concern.

"Hi honey," she said, "Are you okay? What happened to your face?"  
"Hi Mom," he replied, rubbing the bruises and cuts on his cheek and forcing a smile, "I'm fine, just tripped over up in the mountains, nothing to worry about. You tried to call me earlier, right?"

His mom didn't look convinced, but she let it go.

"Yeah, I've been trying to call you all day. Have you heard the news? Blackthorn City's been destroyed!"

Gold almost fell off his chair in shock.

"D-destroyed? How?" he stammered.

"No-one knows," his mom replied, "The residents reported that something was attacking them from up in the surrounding mountains, but when the elite trainers reached the area, it had gone."

A shiver went up Gold's spine at this description, and he was reminded of the strange Pokémon he'd encountered in the desert, but decided not to mention it for fear of worrying his mom.

"Anyway," she continued, "you set off for Unova bright and early in the morning, right? You should get some sleep soon so you don't miss your boat."

"Huh? Oh, yeah," said Gold, his thoughts still back in the desert, "I'll let you know when I land at Castelia City, okay?"

"Okay honey, stay safe, and sweet dreams!"

Gold's mom smiled sweetly as she hung up the phone. Gold immediately rushed over to one of the tables in the middle of the main hall and picked up a copy of that day's newspaper. Pictures of the destroyed Blackthorn were splashed across the front page, with the first few pages covering the story. Gold's eyes were immediately drawn to the huge black R burnt onto the mountainside. Having been one of the trainers involved in taking down Neo Team Rocket, and having beaten Giovanni during a brief journey back in time, he recognised all too well the emblem of Team Rocket…

Gold had a sleepless night. He couldn't get the Pokémon from the desert or the destruction of Blackthorn City out of his head, and something was telling him the two were related somehow. Could it be that Team Rocket had somehow reformed after all this time and were now seeking revenge on him? It had been six years since he, Silver and Crystal had beaten the Rocket executives trying to reform the organisation, and nothing had been heard of them since. Archer had disbanded Team Rocket upon his defeat, but still Gold wasn't convinced, especially in light of what had just happened.

After tossing and turning all through the night, Gold managed to get a couple of hours of sleep before the alarm on his Pokégear woke him up just after sunrise. Still rather exhausted, he headed down to the Pokémon Centre's dining room for breakfast, picking up his Pokémon from the nurse on his way through the main hall. He let the Pokémon out of their Poké Balls so they could have breakfast with him, but they all seemed distracted by Togekiss, who Gold assumed was telling them about the previous night. Once he had satisfied what little appetite he had, he asked his Pokémon whether they were ready to head out to the Fight Area to catch the ferry to Unova. However, they all seemed rather hesitant, Togekiss most of all. Seeing this, Gold lifted Togekiss onto his lap and started stroking him from head to tail; Togekiss purred in delight despite his worries. Gold looked over at his other Pokémon – Typhlosion, Sunflora, Ambipom, Sudowoodo and Politoed.

"Don't worry guys, we'll get to the bottom of this, I promise," he said, smiling at his friends, who smiled back, inspired by Gold's apparent confidence.

However, far from confident, Gold was stumped. The strange Pokémon from the desert had come and gone in a flash, and he was sure that even if he could find it again, it would just defeat his other Pokémon as easily as it had defeated Togekiss. He didn't want his friends getting so badly hurt again, which meant that hunting it down was out of the question; he just had to be careful in case it came for him again.

Gold looked at his Pokégear again. The ferry to Unova was leaving in an hour, and it would take a while to fly to the Fight Area. After making sure Togekiss was feeling strong enough to carry him, he recalled his other Pokémon and started to make his way out of the Pokémon Centre. However, on one of the tables he caught a glimpse of the front cover of the morning paper. Smoke was rising from a cluster of destroyed buildings which Gold recognised as the Sinnoh Battle Frontier. Beneath the photograph of the destruction was another picture, showing Palmer, the Tower Tycoon and head of the Battle Frontier, at a news conference, his arm in a sling and a bandage across his forehead. Reading the article, Gold learned that late last night, each of the Frontier Brains had been systematically challenged by a strange floating creature, which had gone on to destroy each facility once it had utterly defeated the Frontier Brain's Pokémon. Due to the potential danger from falling rubble or another attack, the whole Fight Area had been closed off, including the ferry port. Shaking, Gold dropped the newspaper back on the table and sat down in a chair, trying to calm himself.

_If it attacked the Frontier Brains, that means it's not just after me,_ Gold reasoned, _But in that case, what does it want?_

Remembering that his Pokédex had displayed 'No information' when he'd consulted it on the strange Pokémon, Gold decided that he ought to consult with Professor Elm, the maker of his Pokédex. Walking over to one of the Pokémon Centre's video phones, Gold called the lab in New Bark Town, and the Pokémon professor answered.

"Gold!" Elm cried, evidently pleased to see him, "How are you? It seems like forever since I last saw you! How's your Pokédex coming along?"  
Gold couldn't help but smile at the professor's enthusiasm.

"Hi Professor, I'm fine. Actually, it was my Pokédex which I wanted to ask you about. Is there any reason why a Pokédex would display 'No information' about a Pokémon?"  
Elm looked puzzled for a few moments, stroking his chin.

"'No information', hmm? That's a new one on me. Well, either your Pokédex is broken, or you may have discovered a new species. But you're calling from Sinnoh right? It's been years since a new Pokémon was discovered in that region! Oh, imagine if one of my protégés were to find a new species in Professor Rowan's home region! Haha, I can't wait to see his face at the next conference…"

The professor didn't even notice when Gold hung up the phone, realising that he wouldn't be very helpful on this occasion. Still, Gold had to agree that if a new Pokémon had been discovered in Sinnoh, Professor Rowan would be sure to know.

Heading out of the Pokémon Centre, Gold climbed onto the back of his Togekiss, wrapping his arms around the Pokémon's neck.

"Change of plan, Togekiss – head for Sandgem Town," Gold instructed.

With a mighty flap of his wings, Togekiss lifted off from the ground, and was soon carrying Gold with great speed to the home town of Professor Rowan.


	4. Chapter Three

It was dusk by the time Gold arrived at the coastal town of Sandgem. From the sky, he could see the laboratory on the edge of town, and the group of people gathered around the front door. Landing just behind them and recalling Togekiss, he advanced on the group to see what they were all doing there. Tapping one man in the group on the shoulder to get his attention, Gold asked what was going on, noticing the notepad in his hand and the camera hanging from around his neck.

"We're expecting a statement from Professor Rowan regarding the mysterious Pokémon that attacked the Battle Frontier," the man said, barely turning to face Gold, so absorbed was he in his conversation with some of the other journalists.

Gold was about to try barging through the crowd to reach the door, when the man he had questioned did a double take.

"Wait a moment," he said, a flash of recognition crossing his face, "You're Gold, the trainer who beat Cynthia a few years ago, aren't you?"

At this exclamation, the assembled crowd all turned towards Gold.

"What do you think about the attacks on the Frontier Brains?" the reporter demanded, pulling a dictaphone from his pocket.

"Have you ever encountered this strange new Pokémon before?" another asked, pushing the first reporter out of the way.

The reporters all advanced on Gold, who was at a loss for words. There had been a brief media interest in his exploits each time he had been victorious at a regional Pokémon League, which he had enjoyed, but right now he wasn't in the mood. Turning, he ran back in the direction of the Pokémon Centre, the reporters in hot pursuit shouting endless questions. Gold grabbed a Poké Ball from his belt and threw it ahead of him.

"Typhlosion, SmokeScreen!" he shouted as his Pokémon emerged, immediately spewing black smoke at the pursuing paparazzi. Once Gold was sure he wasn't being chased anymore, he recalled Typhlosion and doubled back behind another building, taking advantage of his pursuers' temporary blindness to throw them off his scent. Peeking around the corner, he saw the reporters dusting themselves off and making their way back to the lab. Gold leant against a wall, catching his breath and pondering his next move, when he heard footsteps approaching him. His hand returned immediately to his Poké Balls, before the sight of the person coming towards him caused his hand to drop, and a smile to appear on his face.

"Long time no see, Gold," said the blue-haired woman wearing a white lab coat and white beanie hat.

"Platinum! What are you doing here?" Gold asked, glad to see a friendly face.

"I noticed the commotion you caused outside the lab, and figured you'd come to see Professor Rowan. Come on," she said, walking away, "We'll get in the back way."

Gold followed the young woman back in the direction of the lab. The two of them had received their first Pokémon and their Pokédex at around the same time; however, whereas Gold had decided to compete in Pokémon battles and take the Pokémon League challenge, Platinum had opted to aid Professor Rowan in his research on Pokémon evolution. She was still a formidable Pokémon trainer, however, as Gold had discovered on the occasions he had battled her.

"So how have you been, Gold?" Platinum asked, "You look a little beaten up."

"I've been okay," Gold replied, "At least, I was okay until yesterday. That's why I've come to see the professor."

"It's about the new Pokémon, isn't it?" Platinum said, her smile fading slightly. Gold nodded.

"That's what all those reporters are here for. They've been here all day waiting for Professor Rowan to make a statement," Platinum explained, her irritation obvious in her voice, as they reached a wooded area behind the lab.

As Platinum touched a knot in a particularly thick-trunked tree, a section of the bark fell away into the ground, revealing a brightly-lit staircase. Signalling for Gold to follow, she led him down into the earth and along a metal-panelled passageway, the door in the fake tree closing automatically behind them. After walking for a few minutes, the pair ascended into a room filled with complex machinery and bookshelves on every wall, which Gold recognised as Professor Rowan's laboratory. As they stepped into the room, the white haired professor came forward to meet them.

"Gold, nice to see you again," he said, extending his hand.

"Likewise, professor," said Gold, shaking the proffered hand.

Professor Rowan lead the two over to his desk, offering them both a seat as he sat down and began reading something on his computer screen.

"Now, what can I do for you, young man?" he asked, continuing to read.

"I was wondering if you knew anything about this strange Pokémon everyone's talking about."

The professor reacted with a slight smile and a sigh.  
"I've been occupied with nothing else since yesterday. Just before you arrived I was looking through the accounts the Frontier Brains sent me of their encounters with the creature," Rowan said, turning his computer screen so that Gold could read the documents he was looking through.

Skim reading, Gold saw that all five of them had been attacked in the same manner – provoked into calling out their Pokémon, then being totally defeated, before the creature finally destroyed their facility. Gold frowned as he read the reports.

"I'm guessing that your visit here means that you have a personal interest in this mystery," Rowan said, indicating Gold's injuries once he had finished reading.

Gold nodded, and began telling the professor about his experience the previous day – his planned trip to Unova, his encounter with the Pokémon, his shock at the news of Blackthorn's destruction, and his flight to Sandgem upon discovering the attack on the Battle Frontier. Throughout this recital, Rowan stroked his chin, his eyes closed in thought. Once Gold had finished talking, Rowan remained silent for a few moments before opening his eyes again.

"Do you think that the three attacks on Blackthorn City, the Battle Frontier and yourself are related?" he asked.

"I know there's no direct evidence, but I can't shake the feeling that, yeah, they're related," Gold replied, expecting the scientist to chide his baseless assumption; however, the professor merely nodded.

"I agree," Rowan said, much to the surprise of both Gold and Platinum, as he highlighted a few passages on the documents on his screen, "I noticed in the Frontier Brains' accounts the sheer variety of attacks used by the Pokémon. Blizzard, Psycho Cut, Stone Edge, Dragon Pulse, to name just a few. The database shows that no known Pokémon except for Smeargle or the illusory Pokémon Mew could employ such a wide range of techniques without the use of Metronome, and the attacks took advantage of the opponents' weaknesses, showing none of the randomness associated with Metronome. The destruction of Blackthorn City was also notable for the variety of techniques used."

"I understand your logic, professor," said Platinum, "But even if it was the same Pokémon, why would it attack Blackthorn City and the Battle Frontier, not to mention Gold? Johto is thousands of miles from here, so what connection is there between the three targets?"

"Strong trainers," said Gold suddenly after a moment's silence. Professor Rowan nodded.

"Precisely," he said, "Blackthorn is home to the strongest of Johto's Gym Leaders, as well as the Champion of Indigo Plateau. The Battle Frontier is home to five of Sinnoh's most powerful trainers, and Gold, you've triumphed over three Pokémon Leagues."  
"Even so," Platinum piped up again, "There are plenty of other strong trainers in Johto and Kanto, so why would the Pokémon travel all the way to Sinnoh after destroying Blackthorn?"

"That is indeed a mystery," Rowan replied, "In any case, we need more data before we can draw any conclusions. Gold, you said you tried to scan the Pokémon with your Pokédex, correct? We'll run an overnight diagnostic on the data it was able to collect, and see what the computer comes up with."

Gold handed his Pokédex over to the professor, who plugged it into a machine on the wall behind him via a length of cable. Rowan decided to stay in the lab a while longer to read through the accounts from Blackthorn City and the Battle Frontier, and Platinum offered Gold the spare room at her house for the night. The pair exited via the underground passage, staying out of sight of the reporters who had set up a makeshift tent village outside the laboratory. After introducing Gold to her mother, Johanna, and eating a light dinner, Platinum showed her friend to the spare room next to hers. Gold slept much better that night, knowing that Professor Rowan was looking into the problem now.

However, his relief was short-lived.

"Gold! Wake up!" Platinum yelled, having rushed into the sleeping Gold's room, still in her dressing gown. Startled, he sat bolt upright, looking around to find the source of the noise, before his eyes, still adjusting to the morning light, settled on the panicked face of Platinum.

"The Pokémon struck again!" she said, holding a newspaper, "Sinnoh's Pokémon League was destroyed last night!"


	5. Chapter Four

After quickly getting dressed, Gold rushed downstairs to join Platinum and her mother, who were both staring transfixed at the images on the television screen. The Pokémon League Castle, which Gold had last seen when he took on Sinnoh's Elite Four a couple of years previously, was now a ruin – its brilliant archways and impressive towers had crumbled and collapsed.  
"_We're live at the Sinnoh Pokémon League, where eyewitnesses say that a mysterious Pokémon totally destroyed the once-magnificent castle_," the reporter was saying, standing in front of the rubble, "_Although all members of the Elite Four, and Champion Cynthia, were absent on training exercises due to a recent lack of challengers, several trainers in Victory Road were injured when the unknown Pokémon attacked them. Earlier, I spoke to one of the trainers who had been set upon by the Pokémon…_"

After a quick breakfast, Gold and Platinum headed back to Professor Rowan's laboratory. The horde of reporters had thinned considerably since the previous evening, probably due to the professor's silence, but a few still remained, forcing the pair to take the secret passage again. Once inside the lab, they found Professor Rowan staring up at the large screen mounted on the wall; one side of the screen showed the news broadcast which Gold and Platinum had been watching at Platinum's house, while the other showed assorted graphs, photographs and data tables. The professor only noticed the young pair when they were almost right beside him, so engrossed was he in the information on the screen.

"I assume you've seen the news from last night?" Rowan said, still watching the screen.

"Yes, professor," replied Platinum, "It's terrible. Are those the results from last night's diagnostic?"

The professor turned and faced Gold and Platinum; the dark shadows under his bloodshot eyes showed that he had not slept much, if at all, the night before.

"Yes, and I think I may have a few clues as to the nature of this mysterious Pokémon," he said, stifling a yawn, and indicated to the pair once again the two seats opposite his desk. As all three of them sat down, the professor enlarged one of the images on the screen with the touch of a button. Looking at the picture, Gold recognised the black shape of the strange Pokémon, floating above the desert sand.

"This is a still frame from Gold's Pokédex's recording of the Pokémon that attacked him," Rowan explained, "As far as data is concerned, the Pokédex only recorded the Pokémon's use of the moves Protect and Mirror Coat, along with power levels on a par with legendary Pokémon. Now, if we observe the still frame, we see that the Pokémon's body appears to be obscured by a cloak. However," at this point the professor took out a laser pointer and pointed it at the screen, "we can still see what appears to be its tail. Running a morphological comparison, the database pulled up a rather curious match."

Rowan pressed another button on the screen, pulling up a three-dimensional model of another Pokémon beside the photograph. Both Gold and Platinum gasped in shock at the purple humanoid figure.

"Yes," Professor Rowan said bluntly, "Although there are subtle differences in the shape, this creature's tail certainly resembles that of the Genetic Pokémon, Mewtwo."

"That Pokémon hasn't been seen in years," said Platinum, "Not since Red encountered it in Cerulean Cave."

Professor Rowan nodded, pulling up some more files on the computer screen.

"Once the computer found this match, I immediately called up Samuel in Pallet Town, and he sent me the files he obtained from Dr. Fuji pertaining to Mewtwo," Rowan continued, "As you are aware, Mewtwo was artificially created by Team Rocket to be the world's most powerful Pokémon, using DNA from Mew, the ancestor of all Pokémon. However, it became too powerful for even Giovanni to control, and destroyed the lab on Cinnabar Island where it was created. After Team Rocket's final defeat, all of their remaining laboratories were decommissioned, and such genetic tampering was outlawed across the world. However, recent evidence implies that unsanctioned experimentation is still going on."  
With these words, the professor opened up two more files – an official-looking document headed with the emblem of the International Police, and a picture of a bizarre, mechanical Pokémon which put Gold and Platinum in mind of Kabutops.

"A rogue Team Plasma scientist named Dudley was recently arrested in eastern Unova. The original charges against him were the same as for the rest of Team Plasma. However, upon searching his laboratory, the police uncovered files detailing the resurrection of a previously unrecorded species of prehistoric Pokémon. While this in itself isn't against the law, as he had the required permits, there was evidence that this Pokémon had been genetically altered to enhance its combat capability, producing the Pokémon you see here – Genesect."

Platinum was shocked by the revelation of this kind of genetic experimentation; secretly, Gold was imagining what it would be like to battle this new Pokémon.

"Aside from the Genesect project, other files were found on external drives in hidden compartments throughout the laboratory. However, even the most capable computer expert in Unova, Amanita, was unable to decipher the encryptions Dudley used, and the criminal in question was apparently less than cooperative with the police. After a brief discussion this morning with Aurea, from whom I originally heard about Genesect, we were in agreement that these files might be related to the mysterious Pokémon which has been causing such havoc these past few days."

Gold and Platinum sat thinking about what they had just been told for a while.

"Considering the diversity of moves the Pokémon used," Platinum said, "The use of Mew's DNA would certainly make sense…"

"Hmm… Professor, could you bring up a picture of Blackthorn City after the attack?" Gold asked, an idea suddenly occurring to him. The professor complied, full-screening the newspaper image Gold had seen in the Resort Area Pokémon Centre. Gold picked up the professor's laser pointer and indicated the black R on the mountainside.

"You said that Team Rocket were behind the creation of Mewtwo, right?" he said.

"Indeed," Rowan replied, "This thought occurred to me, also. Either this Pokémon is Mewtwo turned hostile, or Team Rocket has resumed its covert genetic experimentation. At least, that is my current hypothesis."

"Then, what should we do?" Gold asked, standing up, "This Pokémon is endangering innocent people, we have to find a way of stopping it!"

"I understand your concern, Gold, especially considering what you have been through," Rowan replied, "And I have made inroads into obtaining some answers. I have been in touch with Agent Looker of the International Police, and he assures me that he will speed along the process of getting more information from Dudley. In the meantime, the encrypted files have been distributed to computer experts around the world, in case they are able to crack the code. As for what we can do for the time being, we are going on a little trip."

Saying this, the professor stood up, pulling on his brown trench coat.

"Where are we going, professor?" Platinum asked, as she and Gold followed him up a staircase to the roof.

"To Sunyshore City," Rowan replied, climbing into the chopper ahead of Gold and Platinum; Platinum's father, another of Professor Rowan's assistants, was already in the pilot's seat, and made preparations for take-off when the three were seated. Once in the air, the professor explained his choice of destination.

"The mysterious Pokémon has attacked both the Battle Frontier and the Pokémon League of Sinnoh. If this pattern of attacking powerful trainer continues, then the next logical target would be Volkner, the most powerful of Sinnoh's Gym Leaders, correct? If we can intercept it in Sunyshore City, then maybe we can obtain more data or learn something more of its origins."

Gold and Platinum nodded, unable to fault the professor's logic. They looked down at the rapidly-receding Sandgem Town, the reporters looking back up at them with disappointment, their patience in waiting for a statement now wasted.

The journey to Sunyshore City took a few hours; as the flight progressed, Gold became more and more nervous about the prospect of meeting with the mysterious Pokémon again. He had heard stories about Mewtwo, about its incredible power. If this was indeed another Pokémon created from Mew's DNA, he knew that he would never be able to defeat such a creature…


	6. Chapter Five

At length, the helicopter finally touched down behind the Pokémon Centre in the coastal city of Sunyshore. The three passengers immediately headed into the city, leaving the pilot with the helicopter. During the flight, Professor Rowan had called ahead to inform Sunyshore's Gym Leader Volkner of their arrival, and that they wished to meet with him urgently. Therefore, as they approached the gym, they met the blond-haired Gym Leader waiting outside, along with his Electivire. Volkner smiled at Gold as he approached, remembering that he had won the Beacon Badge a few years previously, before addressing Professor Rowan.

"What brings you to Sunyshore, professor?" Volkner asked, "Your phone call sounded pretty urgent."

"Indeed it is urgent, Volkner," the professor replied, shaking Volkner's hand, "Is there somewhere we can speak privately?"  
"Absolutely," said the Gym Leader, turning back towards the Gym, "Follow me."  
Rowan, Gold and Platinum followed Volkner into the Sunyshore Gym, with Electivire bringing up the rear. Gold looked around the Gym as they walked towards the back of the building; if possible, he thought, Volkner had installed even more lights and electrical traps since the last time Gold had been here. As they approached each hazard, Volkner made a sign to one of his apprentices on the other side, who pressed a panel on the device, disabling it and allowing them to pass. In this way, they made their way through the Gym without taking the trials required by challenging trainers. Once they reached the stage on which Volkner usually battled with his challengers, they ascended by a small staircase into Volkner's living quarters – a very modern apartment, coloured in bright yellows and blues, with a beautiful view of the beach from the large windows which ran the length of the room. Seating himself in an armchair, and signalling for the others to do the same, the Gym Leader inquired once more into the reason for the trio's visit.

"Doubtless you have heard the reports of the attacks on the Battle Frontier and the Pokémon League," Professor Rowan said. Volkner nodded.

"I'm just glad Flint wasn't there when the Pokémon arrived," he said.

"In addition," Rowan continued, "Gold here was attacked on the same night as the Battle Frontier was destroyed. Therefore, we believe that the Pokémon is targeting strong trainers in the Sinnoh region, and that as the strongest of this region's Gym Leaders, you are likely to be the next target."

Volkner nodded again.

"I suspected as much," he said, no concern apparent on his face, "Then, what do you propose I do?"

"We need to collect more data in order to learn what this Pokémon is, and where it comes from," Rowan explained, "Therefore, once the Pokémon arrives here, Gold will help you in fending it off, while Platinum and I attempt to analyse it further."  
Gold started at the mention of his name – Rowan hadn't mentioned before that he wanted Gold to face the Pokémon again.

"Sounds like a plan," Volkner said, apparently oblivious to Gold's reaction, "When do you expect the Pokémon to strike?"  
"This evening, after sunset," Rowan replied, "Most likely here at the Gym. Platinum and I will hide among the rocks outside in order to observe the Pokémon safely, while you and Gold team up against it."

"Very well," Volkner said, rising from his seat, "Then I'll meet you outside the Gym at sunset. Gold, I'd like to talk strategy with you in the meantime, if you don't mind."

Gold stayed behind while the professor and Platinum went to set up the analytical equipment. Once the pair had left, Volkner turned to Gold.

"I saw the look of fear in your eye just now," Volkner said, addressing Gold, "The Pokémon's really that powerful, huh?"

"Yeah…" Gold replied, looking down at the floor, "I've never battled anything like it before. Even when I met Ho-Oh back in Johto, it didn't feel nearly as powerful."

Volkner walked up to Gold and put his hand on the young trainer's shoulder. When he looked up, Volkner was smiling warmly at him.

"I remember the battle we had, the day you won the Beacon Badge," Volkner said, "You were a powerful trainer then, and I have no doubt that your skills have improved in the years since. Together, we can beat this thing, I know it."

Seeing that Gold was still looking uneasy, Volkner called his Electivire over from where he had been sitting, and started heading towards the door.

"Come on, we need to come up with a battle plan," Volkner said, signalling for Gold to follow.

The two headed out of the Gym and down onto the beach. The sun was low in the sky as the pair called out their Pokémon and started planning battle strategies, and a couple of hours were spent training and honing their teamwork. Eventually, it was decided that, as Volkner was accustomed to double-teaming with Fire-type Pokémon, his Electivire would partner Gold's Typhlosion, the most powerful Pokémon on his team. As the sun began to sink below the sea, the two of them made their way back to the Gym, where Professor Rowan and Platinum were waiting for them, each carrying a small box containing various complex-looking scientific instruments. As Gold went to meet them, Volkner briefly re-entered the Gym, saying a few words to one of his apprentices standing in the doorway; as the Gym Leader joined the trio again, the apprentice ran off back into the Gym.

"Have you made your preparations?" Professor Rowan asked Gold.

"Yeah, we're ready," Gold said, though honestly he was still feeling as nervous as before, "Are you guys all set?"  
"Yep," Platinum replied with a smile, "Come tomorrow we'll know exactly what this Pokémon is!"

As darkness began to set in, Rowan and Platinum retreated to their hiding place among the rocks, pulling a grey sheet over their heads to disguise them further. Gold and Volkner sat outside the Gym, their eyes scanning the sky. Despite the relaxing, rhythmic sound of the tides, Gold's nerves kept him awake and alert through the night. The skies were clear and the moon was a few days from full, giving relatively good visibility. Volkner had called out his Luxray to help with the lookout, its excellent vision allowing it to see clearly into the distant darkness.

The night slowly progressed, and after what seemed like a lifetime, Gold saw the sun appearing over the horizon, its rays lighting up Sunyshore as the city awoke. Gold leant over and shook Volkner awake, as he had fallen asleep a couple of hours previously, leaving lookout duty to his Luxray. Looking over towards the rocks concealing Professor Rowan and Platinum, Gold could see that they, too, had given in to sleep, slumped over the boulders they were hidden behind.

"This is most curious," said Professor Rowan grimly, once everyone had awoken and sat down at the Pokémon Centre for breakfast, "I was so sure that the Pokémon would appear last night…"

"Do you think this means that the attacks are over?" Platinum asked, "Maybe it's done what it set out to achieve, whatever that may have been."

"I wouldn't count on it," Gold said, "That thing is brutal, I don't think it would just up and disappear like that."

"Indeed," Rowan said, "I just hope that we haven't guessed its next target incorrectly."

With that, the four of them began searching the news in case any more attacks had taken place the previous night – Gold and Platinum with their Pokégear and Pokétch, Rowan with his laptop, and Volkner with the newspapers. However, there was no news of any attacks, so they left the Pokémon Centre at a loss for how to proceed. As they headed back towards the Gym, however, they noticed a group of people gathered on the beach, a Drifblim floating above them. A young boy broke away from the crowd and ran in the direction of Gold, Platinum, Volkner and the professor.

"What's going on down there?" Volkner asked as the boy approached them, but rather than stopping to answer, he kept running, briefly turning his head towards the Gym Leader.

"Flint's hurt!" the boy shouted, running as fast as he could towards the Pokémon Centre.

Volkner went deathly white, running with seemingly superhuman speed towards the group on the beach, the other three following behind. Volkner pushed his way through the crowd, and found his friend barely conscious on the beach, covered in cuts and bruises. He dropped to his knees by Flint's side, taking hold of his hand.

"Hang in there, Flint," Volkner said, "Help's coming."

Flint opened his eyes a little, and smiled when he saw Volkner beside him.

"Volkner…" he said weakly, raising his head slightly, "You're… alright…"

These few words apparently draining the last of his energy, Flint's head fell back onto the sand as he blacked out. Volkner, fearing the worst, squeezed his hand tighter, tears moistening the corners of his eyes.

"Flint!" he cried, "Stay with me!"

Just then, two nurses from the Pokémon Centre came running onto the scene, accompanied by two Chansey carrying a stretcher. The Pokémon quickly performed first aid on Flint using Heal Pulse, and once they were sure he was in a stable condition, he was lifted onto the stretcher and rushed back to the Pokémon Centre, Drifblim floating close behind his master. Volkner, not quitting his friend's side for a second, also ran alongside the stretcher. Once the crowd had dispersed, Gold, Platinum and Rowan also went up to the Pokémon Centre.

The trio waited outside the emergency room for a few hours. Though none of them voiced their suspicions, all of them were certain that Flint had been attacked by the mysterious Pokémon, a fact that worried Gold still further – if one of Sinnoh's Elite Four had been attacked, what about the others? Eventually, the doors of the emergency room opened, and the nurse allowed the three of them to come in. Flint was laying in the hospital bed, hooked up to a heart rate monitor with his left arm bandaged, Volkner and Drifblim still by his side. As Gold, Platinum and Rowan came into the room, Flint smiled at them.

"Hey guys," he said, "Nice of you to drop by."

"How are you doing?" Rowan asked, "You gave us all quite a scare."

"Me? I'm fine," Flint replied, still smiling, "Takes more than a few scrapes to keep me down. I'm just glad to see my buddy here's safe."  
"I think you need to worry about yourself for a while," Volkner said, unable to keep a smile of his own from appearing on his lips, "What happened to you, anyway?"

"I'm pretty sure you can guess," replied the redhead, becoming serious again.

"It was the mysterious Pokémon that attacked the Pokémon League, wasn't it?" asked Gold. Flint nodded.

"I was out at the Survival Area visiting my family when I heard about the attack on the Battle Frontier," he explained, "I rushed over there to try and help out, then next thing I know the Pokémon League's been attacked too. I thought the Pokémon was targeting strong trainers, so I had to come warn this guy that he might be in danger. Drifblim here was carrying me over the sea, when we got shot down within sight of Sunyshore last night. Luckily, Drifblim wasn't too badly hurt and was able to drag me to shore."

"What about the other members of the Elite Four?" Platinum asked, "Have you heard from them?"

"I told the nurses here where the others are, they're sending out rescue teams as we speak," Flint reassured her.

"It appears we may have underestimated this Pokémon's tenacity," Professor Rowan said, stroking his chin, "When it didn't find the Elite Four at the Pokémon League, it actively sought them out. If it spent last night hunting down the Elite Four, then maybe Volkner is indeed its next target."

Volkner tightened his grip on the arms of his chair, clenching his teeth.

"Let it come," he said, rage evident in his voice, "I'll take it down with everything I've got."

"Volkner, be careful," Flint warned, "I guarantee you've never faced anything like this before."

As the day went on, reports came into the Pokémon Centre that the other members of the Elite Four had been found, injured but alive – Aaron was found in Eterna Forest, Lucian on Fullmoon Island, and Bertha deep inside Mt. Coronet. Flint had told the nurses that Cynthia had intended going to Snowpoint Temple, yet when the rescue team arrived, there was no trace of her having been there; however, when the nurses had contacted her family in Celestic Town, her grandmother had told them, with a smile, that her granddaughter was perfectly fine, but refused to give any further information. Flint seemed to be in high spirits, despite his injuries and the situation, whereas Volkner was much less upbeat. Gold, aware that the coming night may once again bring him face to face with the mysterious Pokémon, was in an equally low mood. Nevertheless, as the sun was setting, both Gold and Volkner were back outside the Sunyshore Gym, with Platinum and Professor Rowan close at hand. Tonight, the group didn't have long to wait. No sooner had the sun disappeared below the horizon than Volkner's Luxray was on his feet, growling in the direction of the rising moon. A few seconds later, just as Volkner and Gold were reaching for their Poké Balls, a massive fireball flew from out of the darkness, exploding on the ground in front of the pair. The impact blew them off their feet, throwing up a cloud of sand and dirt. When the debris started to settle, Gold saw the familiar cloaked form of the mysterious Pokémon floating a few feet in front of them.


	7. Chapter Six

As the Pokémon loomed over Gold and Volkner, Gold could have sworn he heard the same menacing laugh in his head as he'd heard in the desert. Paralysed with shock, he couldn't find the strength to climb to his feet. Volkner, however, immediately sprang into action, fuelled by rage at what the creature had done to his friend.

"Zachery, hit it!" he shouted.

Inside the Gym, the apprentice Volkner had spoken to the previous day flipped a switch by the door. Immediately, two spotlights on the roof of the Gym burst into life, their bright lights converging on the Pokémon floating in front of the two trainers. No light pierced the darkness within the creature's black hood, its features remaining obscured by shadows; however, its tail was now clearly visible – a long purple appendage, almost as tall as the creature itself, flicking about like the tail of an excited Glameow. Hoping that the lights would surprise and stun the Pokémon for a few seconds, Volkner made his move.

"Luxray, Charge Beam, now!" he roared.

Static immediately began to build in Luxray's mane, culminating in a crackling beam of lightning surging from his mouth towards the floating Pokémon before them. Almost as though it had pre-empted the attack, it moved to the side with incredible speed at the moment the attack was launched, the beam flying off into the night. Luxray still stood growling at his opponent, his coat glistening with added power from the Charge Beam's static.

"Alright, let's try Thunder Fang!" shouted Volkner, determined not to give his opponent a chance to strike.

Luxray obeyed, dashing forwards with a roar and leaping at the cloaked Pokémon. He got to within a few inches of his target, jaws wide open and fangs sparking, when suddenly he was halted, suspended in midair. The two blue lights inside the Pokémon's cloak shone brighter as Luxray was hurled straight down into the ground with incredible speed and power, forming a small crater in the sand around him. Desperately he tried to climb to his feet, but he collapsed back onto the sand, unconscious.

"No! Luxray!" Volkner shouted, reaching for the Poké Ball at his belt and recalling his fallen Pokémon.

Now shaking with fear and anger, Volkner reached for another Poké Ball, hurling it at the Pokémon.

"Electivire! Let's take this thing down!"

Electivire emerged in a shower of sparks, ready for action. Volkner looked over at Gold, expecting him to have sent out Typhlosion by now; however, he was still sitting on the ground, trembling. Volkner was shocked at this display of fear from the proud and powerful trainer who had once challenged him.

"Gold, snap out of it!" he pleaded, "We have to work together here!"

Volkner's command apparently broke Gold out of his trance, as he slowly and shakily got to his feet.

"S-sorry," he stuttered, fumbling with the Poké Balls on his belt and throwing one of them, "G-go, Typhlosion."

Typhlosion sprang out of the Poké Ball and stood beside Electivire. Volkner was slightly unnerved by the fact that, rather than attacking while he'd been distracted with trying to rouse Gold from his trance, the Pokémon had remained floating before them, almost as if waiting for provocation.

"What are you?" Volkner shouted at the Pokémon, "And why are you targeting Sinnoh's trainers?"

Now Volkner too heard the creature's laughter in his head; however, rather than scaring him, it only served to increase his anger.

"This is for Flint!" Volkner roared, "Electivire, Giga Impact!"

The Thunderbolt Pokémon rushed forward, an aura of power intensifying around him with each step. Typhlosion looked back over his shoulder and, seeing that his trainer was staring transfixed at the floating Pokémon, decided to act on his own. Curling up into a ball, he flared his back flames and hurtled towards the Pokémon in a powerful Flame Wheel attack. Electivire and Typhlosion hit their target at the same time, in a shower of sparks and embers. The two Pokémon landed on the ground as the other Pokémon was knocked down and off the edge of the cliff upon which the Gym stood. As the two Pokémon returned to their owners' sides, Volkner sank to his knees, his rage having drained his body of strength.

"Did… did we beat it?" he said, almost to himself.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Volkner heard a distant whooshing sound, which rapidly grew louder. Too late did he look up and notice the ball of blue draconic energy hurtling towards him and Gold; no sooner did he see it than it exploded all around them, sending searing pain through the bodies of Volkner, Gold, Electivire and Typhlosion. All four of them fell to the floor, crying out in agony as the mysterious Pokémon rose unseen from the base of the cliff in the wake of its Draco Meteor. The dust kicked up by the explosion began to swirl around, gently at first, becoming more and more turbulent as the Pokémon approached the four laying on the ground. Volkner managed to open his eyes through the pain, saw the Pokémon floating over them and felt the winds rushing around him.

"That's Razor Wind," he said in a voice which was almost a whisper.

Fighting the pain coursing through his body, he pressed the button on Electivire's Poké Ball, recalling him. He smiled gently to himself, knowing his Pokémon was safe, and resigning himself to his fate. He was only vaguely aware of Platinum's voice, the battle cry of her Empoleon, and a loud rumbling like a landslide, before he drifted off into unconsciousness.

"… old… Gold... Wake up," Gold heard a woman's voice calling him in the distance. Slowly, his senses returned to him, along with his memories of the night before. He opened his eyes and saw Platinum standing over him, concern printed across her face. As she saw him awaken, however, her expression changed to one of relief.

"Thank goodness," she said, smiling slightly, "How are you feeling?"

Gold sat up slowly, still feeling sore all over his body. Looking around, he saw that he was in the Pokémon Centre; Volkner and Flint were in beds over to his right, talking to each other.

"I'm doing okay," Gold replied to Platinum, wincing slightly as he sat up, "What happened last night? The last thing I remember was being blasted by Draco Meteor, and then…"

Gold's eyes shot wide open.

"Typhlosion! Where's Typhlosion?" he shouted.

Platinum picked up one of the Poké Balls from Gold's bedside table and pressed the button. Typhlosion appeared beside Gold's bed, leaning down and licking Gold's face.

"The nurses treated him, he's fine," Platinum said, smiling.

Gold breathed a sigh of relief, reaching over and stroking Typhlosion's head.

"So, what happened after I blacked out?" Gold asked.

"Once you were all taken down by the Draco Meteor," Platinum explained, "the Pokémon was going to attack you with Razor Wind. I panicked and sent out Empoleon to try and attack the Pokémon, but as I was about to give the command, rocks shot up from the ground beneath the Pokémon and hit it hard while it was distracted. It flew off out to sea, so I ran to the Pokémon Centre to get help."

"The Pokémon was attacked by rocks?" Gold asked.

"Yeah, it looked like Stone Edge, but Empoleon doesn't know Stone Edge, and Professor Rowan and I didn't see any other Pokémon around."

"Where is the professor, anyway?" asked Gold, looking around the room.

"When the Pokémon disappeared, he realised that the Stone Edge had drawn blood," Platinum said, "So he quickly took a sample off the ground for analysis. He went back to Sandgem immediately to analyse the results; my Dad's going to come back and pick us up as soon as he drops the professor off."

A few hours later, Gold and Platinum were airborne, waving goodbye to Volkner and Flint as they shrank away into the distance. Volkner had agreed to contact all of Sinnoh's Gym Leaders, advising them all to go into hiding until the crisis was resolved. Sinnoh's police force was organising additional patrols in cities with Gyms, the International Police were sending in officers for extra support, and Jubilife TV was broadcasting messages across the country warning people not to leave their homes after dark – Sinnoh was in a state of national emergency. Gold was reminded of a rumour he'd heard while researching Unova, of a small town where no-one left home at night for fear of being eaten by a monstrous Pokémon which reportedly lived nearby. Still exhausted from lack of sleep and yesterday's exertion, Gold slept through most of the helicopter journey back to Sandgem Town.

When they arrived back in Sandgem, Platinum noticed that all the reporters had now disappeared from outside Professor Rowan's laboratory, most likely due to the newly-implemented curfew. Smiling for a few moments on the peacefully sleeping Gold, she gently nudged him awake. Upon entering the lab, Professor Rowan informed them that the tests were underway, and that the results would be ready in the morning; as such, Gold and Platinum returned to Platinum's house for the night.


	8. Chapter Seven

The blizzard was so intense that Gold could barely see a few feet in front of him. He slowly moved forward through the curtain of swirling white snow, Typhlosion burning a path in front of them at regular intervals with his Flamethrower. _I've been here before_, Gold thought as he made his way through the snowstorm. He could see a shape at the limit of his vision, and he knew that someone was waiting for him. He didn't know why, but the figure up ahead terrified him, yet still his body compelled him to move on, out of his control…

Gold sat bolt upright, drenched in a cold sweat. He was still in Platinum's spare room, the moonlight streaming through the window, illuminating everything with a silvery glow. He laid back down, unable to close his eyes, his mind replaying the dream he had just had. Although he had only been there once, all those years ago, it was impossible for him to forget the frozen landscape and perpetual blizzard atop Mt. Silver. He had never dreamed about it before though, and couldn't understand why the figure in the distance had been so terrifying. At length, as his racing heart slowed to its normal pace, he fell asleep again.

Morning came around, and Gold was awoken by Platinum knocking on his door. Feeling suitably refreshed, he went down for breakfast, where Platinum related to her mother the details of their trip which they had been too exhausted to tell her the night before. Although Johanna was rather worried by the story, she was glad that her daughter and her friends had escaped any serious harm. As the group feared, however, upon turning on the TV, the news showed pictures of the ruined Snowpoint City Gym; thankfully, due to the precautions everyone had taken, there had been no injuries.

After breakfast, Gold and Platinum made their way to Professor Rowan's laboratory. As the reporters had doubtless flooded to Sunyshore City and Snowpoint City now, the pair were able to go in through the front door. Inside, they found Professor Rowan slumped over his desk, fast asleep, papers scattered over his desk. Platinum's father was attempting to rouse him from his slumber with a cup of strong, black coffee as Gold and Platinum approached. Slowly, the professor came to.

"I am terribly sorry about that," Rowan apologised, drinking down half of his cup of coffee at a gulp, "Running all of the tests and analysing the data has proven very taxing, especially at my age."

"Did you find out anything?" asked Gold. The professor sighed and nodded.

"I did, indeed," Rowan confirmed, "However, I am afraid it is as we feared."

Pressing some buttons on the computer keyboard, the professor brought up a document entitled 'DNA Analysis Results' on the big screen. Scrolling down the page, he reached a paragraph headed 'Database enquiry – 50% match with specimen #151'.

"The unique genetic markers in this Pokémon's DNA confirm that it is 50% identical to Mew," said the professor.

Gold and Platinum were both shocked.

"So, does this mean that Team Rocket are active again?" Gold asked.

"It is too early to say," Rowan said, "However, this news is even worse than it at first appears. I compared the DNA sequence against every other known Pokémon, expecting it to be a hybrid of some sort. When no matches were found for the other half of its genetic makeup, I ran one last test, which came up positive – the other 50% of the Pokémon's DNA is human."

Once again, Gold became paler.

"But professor," Platinum said, "Why does that make it worse? Mewtwo also contained human DNA, didn't it?"  
"That is true," Rowan said, "One of the researchers who created Mewtwo was required to use some of his own cells in order to stabilise the Pokémon in its infancy. However, the resulting Pokémon was still not entirely stable. Despite this new Pokémon containing less of Mew's DNA , the result is that it is more stable, meaning it is a more powerful Pokémon."

"More powerful than Mewtwo!?" Gold asked, understandably startled.

"Indeed," said the professor gravely, "Which explains why both you and Volkner together were no match for it. It seems that someone may have made the most powerful Pokémon in existence."

"Then, how are we supposed to beat this thing?" said Gold, trying to maintain his composure, "Red was just barely able to defeat Mewtwo, and now he's gone…"  
Gold trailed off, remembering all too well the circumstances surrounding Red's disappearance, now almost 6 years ago. Seeing how upset this memory made him, Platinum attempted to move the conversation on.

"Well, if Red doesn't come back to help us, then we'll just have to do what we can for now," she said.

"Yes, we must," Rowan said, "And as such, Gold, I must ask a favour of you."

"Of me?" Gold said, his mind returning to the present.

"Now we know that this Pokémon is genetically similar to Mewtwo," Rowan explained, "We can start to form some idea of how to defeat it. Science has come a long way since Mewtwo's creation, but by learning more about Mewtwo, we can learn more about this new, more advanced Pokémon. As you are well acquainted with the Kanto region, I would like you to go to Cinnabar Island, and start by speaking with the Gym Leader Blaine. I am sure you are aware that he was part of the team that worked on Mewtwo, so he may be able to advise you how to proceed in your investigations. Perhaps the key to defeating this new Pokémon lies in the region of Mewtwo's birth."

Given the urgency of the situation, and because the trip took three days, it was decided that Gold would travel to Kanto on the next ferry out of Canalave City, which was later that evening. Platinum was to stay in Sinnoh with the professor to continue helping him, so the two of them went in the helicopter with Gold to see him off. Once they landed in Canalave, Gold decided that he'd better let his mom know about his change of plans, so while Platinum and Rowan went to the Canalave Library, Gold went to the Pokémon Centre and called his mom on the video phone.

"Hey honey!" Gold's mom said, with a beaming smile, "You're in Castelia City already? I didn't expect to hear from you for a few more days! I'm just glad you got out of Sinnoh before all these attacks started."

"Um, actually Mom, that's what I called to talk to you about," Gold began, and proceeded to tell his mom, in brief, about the past few days, and that he was now returning to Tohjo for a while. She turned very pale as Gold told her about the attacks he'd been caught up in, but hearing that he was coming back, she was soon smiling again.

"Well, I'm just so glad you're okay, sweetie," she said, breathing a sigh of relief, "And since you'll be so close by, please come back to New Bark Town for a few days, okay?"

"Yeah, of course Mom," Gold said, "I've got to go now, my ferry leaves soon."

Saying his goodbyes, Gold left the Pokémon Centre and headed towards the ferry port, where he'd agreed to meet Platinum and Rowan. As he walked through the city, he noticed the increased presence of both national and international police on the streets, and hoped that they would be able to maintain law and order in the face of a situation which could potentially cause a mass panic. Gold reached the port about half an hour before the ferry was due to depart, and he didn't have to wait long before Platinum and Rowan arrived on the dock to join him.

"Have a safe journey, Gold," Rowan said, shaking the young man's hand, "And be sure to contact me as soon as you learn anything."

"I will, professor," Gold replied, "And you two take care too."

"See you again soon, Gold," Platinum said, embracing him gently.

The ferry left the port, heading south towards Kanto. Platinum and Rowan waved Gold off, before returning to Sandgem Town in the helicopter so they could continue analysing the data on the new Pokémon. Gold remained up on deck, watching the twinkling lights of Canalave City disappear into the distance as night fell. He watched a few trainers battling with their Pokémon before going to his cabin, noticing as he went that many of the people he passed looked very worried. _They're probably trying to escape the creature by leaving Sinnoh_, Gold thought to himself, _but if the Pokémon defeats all of Sinnoh's top trainers, what will it do then?_ The current location of the rest of Sinnoh's Gym Leaders was known only to themselves, and as far as anyone knew, the Pokémon hadn't succeeded in finding Snowpoint City's Gym Leader, Candice, and Gold just hoped that she would be okay. Laying down on the bed, his stress and exhaustion quickly caught up with him, and just as he drifted off to sleep, he could have sworn he heard a quiet sound like a distant explosion.


	9. Chapter Eight

Gold found himself once more atop Mt. Silver, Typhlosion by his side, making his way through the blizzard. As he walked, he began to question why he was there, and seeing the silhouette of someone standing in the distance, he realised that this must once again be a dream. However, as his legs once again started walking onward against his will, even that knowledge didn't stop his heart from racing, fear once again flooding his system. This was multiplied tenfold when from the head of the figure in front of him, two bright blue lights started to shine, drawing Gold towards it even faster, seeming to consume him…

Gold awoke to the sound of the waves and the squawking of Wingull outside his window. The slight rhythmic rocking of his bed reminded him that he was at sea, on his way to Kanto. The relaxing sound of the ocean and the bright, beautiful sunlight flooding in through his window might almost have made him forget that he was on a mission to discover more about the mysterious Pokémon attacking Sinnoh. However, upon leaving his cabin and going up onto the deck, the nervous manner of the other passengers reminded him that he wasn't merely on holiday. Passing by one of the lounges, Gold saw a large group of people gathered around the widescreen television, broadcasting pictures of last night's attack. Seeing the footage of the attack on Canalave City Gym, and remembering the distant sound he heard as he had drifted off to sleep the previous night, Gold hoped that Platinum and Professor Rowan hadn't gotten caught up in it; a short call on his Pokégear confirmed that they were okay.

The boat journey from Sinnoh to Kanto took three days. Gold spent these days restlessly walking around the ship, occasionally stopping to watch the odd trainer battle in hopes of being distracted from his worries. Each night he was awoken by the same dream of being on top of Mt. Silver, being drawn towards the figure in the distance; there was no mistaking those blue lights as the ones he had seen beneath the hood of the mysterious Pokémon. Every morning, on passing the ship's lounges, he saw yet more images of the destruction the Pokémon was wreaking on the Sinnoh region – after Canalave, the gyms of both Hearthome City and Pastoria City were destroyed, but once again the precautions of each city's citizens meant that no-one was hurt. Wandering around the ship, preoccupied by his thoughts, Gold didn't notice a shape in the shadows which seemed to be following his every step.

After what seemed like an eternity, on the afternoon of the third day, the call over the PA system announced that they would soon be arriving at Cinnabar Island. Leaning against the railings at the front of the ship, Gold saw from the abundance of Tentacool floating in the water that they were approaching the shores of Kanto. On the edge of the horizon, he could just make out the shape of the volcanic island's peak. About 8 years previously, this volcano had violently erupted, destroying everything on the island save for the Pokémon Centre. Over the course of the years that followed, once it was established that the volcano was no longer a threat, the Cinnabar Gym Leader, Blaine, oversaw the reconstruction of the island. After many years of clearing away the debris and rebuilding the town, the island was almost restored to how it had been before the eruption, with one exception – in place of the ruined Pokémon Mansion facility, a beautiful garden was planted, its ruby red flowers a reminder of the island's turbulent past.

Once Gold had disembarked from the ferry, he immediately turned his steps in the direction of the Cinnabar Island Gym, at the foot of the now-extinct volcano. Professor Rowan had called ahead to inform Blaine of Gold's arrival, and had been told that he should go directly to the Gym. Walking along the coast, Gold soon reached the building, its rough exterior looking as though it had been carved from the rock itself. He pushed open the large metal door and entered the Gym, calling out for the Gym Leader as he closed the door behind him. The burning torches which lit each chamber emphasised the Gym Leader's preference for Fire-types, and gave the Gym an eerie atmosphere. As Gold approached the final chamber, where he knew Blaine challenged trainers, he saw the old man slowly making his way towards him. As full of life as he had always been, his body had not been able to keep up with his quick mind, causing him to rely on his question mark-shaped cane for walking nowadays, rather than it just being used for show. Still, as Gold approached him, he could see the wide smile on his face.

"Gold, nice to see you again," said the Gym Leader brightly, "What do you think of the Gym? Much nicer than that old cave back in the Seafoam Islands where we did battle back in the day, eh?"

"Yeah, it's really something," said Gold, amused as ever by the old man's upbeat nature, "Anyway, I'm sure you know what I've come here to talk about."

Although his mood was noticeably dampened, Blaine still managed to smile.

"Of course, my boy, of course," he said, "Follow me, won't you?"

The two slowly made their way to the back of the Gym, and through a short passage into Blaine's living quarters. This being the second time he had been admitted into a Gym Leader's home, Gold noticed the contrast of the deep reds and browns of Blaine's sitting room with the vibrant colours of Volkner's home. Lowering himself into a tatty armchair, and offering Gold a seat, Blaine picked up a Lava Cookie from the plate on the table.

"I gather you've come to talk about Mewtwo. What would you like to know?" he asked, taking a bite of the cookie.

"Anything and everything," Gold replied eagerly, "I'm sure you've seen what's been going on in Sinnoh, and at Blackthorn City, and if Professor Rowan is right, if Team Rocket are behind the attacks using a new Pokémon with Mew's DNA, we need to take it down before anyone else gets hurt."

Blaine nodded, swallowing his mouthful of Lava Cookie.

"Just the name of Team Rocket sends a shiver down my spine," he said bitterly, "It's been over ten years since I left that infernal organisation, but I still bear the mark of my sins.

The old man rolled up his right sleeve, revealing extensive scarring as though his arm had been badly burnt, although the skin remained its usual pink colour.

"As you know, Mewtwo was an unstable creation, requiring human DNA to allow it to survive. Mr Fuji – Dr. Fuji as we knew him back then – elected me to donate some of my cells for the project. Perhaps he knew even then what the rest of us didn't, that the transfer of DNA would leave both Mewtwo and the cell donor linked to one another. In any case, it meant that I was able to track Mewtwo once it escaped, though also leaving me in constant pain. By that time I had left Team Rocket, and Giovanni's disappearance meant that I was able to go after it on my own without fear of him trying to recapture it. In the end, I wasn't powerful enough, and had to call on Red to capture it for me. However, Mewtwo escaped from him too, although he assured me, correctly, that the Pokémon would no longer be a threat to humanity. To this day, I don't know what happened between those two in that cave."

Blaine took another bite of the Lava Cookie before continuing.

"My ability to sense Mewtwo weakened after that, so I guess it flew off to some distant region. After Entei healed my arm as recompense for inadvertently causing the Cinnabar eruption, I could no longer sense its presence at all, so its fate is now entirely unknown to me. However, if I understood Rowan correctly, and this new Pokémon also contains a mixture of Mew and human DNA, then someone out there must also be able to track this troublesome creature you're after."

"Was a scientist called Dudley also involved in creating Mewtwo?" Gold asked, "He's being held in connection with Team Plasma in Unova, but they found some secure files which Professor Rowan suspected might have been related to this new Pokémon."

Blaine stroked his stubbly chin, trying to recall memories from so long ago.

"Now that you mention it," he said, "there was a young man by that name working for Team Rocket around that time. Although he wasn't directly involved with the Mewtwo project, he did seem very curious about the goings on in the restricted areas of the lab. He could well have signed up with Team Plasma after Team Rocket disbanded."

At this point, Blaine stretched and yawned.

"I'm sorry, my boy, I'm falling asleep here," he said, starting to get to his feet, "I'll mull this matter over some more and we'll talk again in the morning."

Gold got to his feet and bowed to the old man.

"I'll see you then," he said, "Thanks for your help."

Gold left the Gym and headed to the Pokémon Centre for the night. It was just after sunset, so Gold made his way there by the light of the streetlamps. After dinner, he made his way to his room, lying in bed for a few hours thinking over his conversation with Blaine, trying to draw some kind of link which could help solve this mystery. _I'll call Professor Rowan in the morning after I've talked to Blaine again_, he thought, _I'm sure he can come up with something_.

Deciding this, he tried to get some sleep. However, just as he felt himself drifting off, he heard a loud explosion, much too close for comfort. He leapt out of bed and rushed to the window, looking out to see a smoking hole in the side of the Gym. As he watched in horror, a blue Ice Beam surged from somewhere further up the mountainside, gradually encasing half of the building in ice. Gold ran out of his room, down the stairs and out into the night air. As he stepped outside the Pokémon Centre, another loud explosion rang out, and Gold saw a building not far from him fall burning to the ground. He froze for a few moments in fright, almost sure he knew what was happening, before reaching for a Poké Ball and throwing it.

"Go, Ambipom!" he shouted, as the Long Tail Pokémon emerged from his Poké Ball.

Gold and Ambipom ran forward, against the stream of people fleeing the destruction.

"Swift attack!" Gold called to Ambipom, who swung both of his tails forward, letting loose a flurry of star-shaped rays of energy in the direction of the dormant volcano. A distant impact was heard over the sound of the flaming rubble of broken buildings, as Gold and Ambipom continued to run ahead. A few seconds later, however, their progress was halted by a wall of enormous roots which erupted from the ground in front of them. The pair turned, attempting to run around the obstacle, but another root wall shot out of the ground along with the first, and then another, and another, so that they were fenced in with no way to escape. Recognising this as Frenzy Plant, although on an enormous scale, Gold reached for his Poké Ball to recall Ambipom and send out Togekiss to fly them to safety. However, no sooner had Ambipom been recalled in a beam of red light than the tips of the roots turned to point downwards, and darted towards Gold. He felt himself knocked to the floor and pummelled repeatedly by the plants as he rolled around in pain. When the assault was finally over, he lay battered and bruised on the ground, barely able to move, so great was the pain. As he attempted to get to his knees, he saw a figure floating in front of him, behind where the Frenzy Plant wall had been, and he once more heard the menacing laughter in his head which sent fear coursing through him. Trying even harder to get to his feet, his strength faltered and he fell flat on his face once again. The Pokémon floated up to him, grabbing him roughly by the arm and tugging him off the ground, dragging him up into the sky. Gold could see Cinnabar Island getting further and further away as the Pokémon took him up and up, stopping only once they had gotten above the clouds. Looking up at the creature, he saw it looking back down at him, the two blue lights once more visible beneath the darkness of its hood. For the first time, Gold noticed the hand grasping his arm, sticking out from the Pokémon's sleeve. Like Mewtwo, its hand was purple, with each digit ending in a bulbous fingertip. However, this Pokémon had three fingers and a thumb, as opposed to the three fingers of the Genetic Pokémon. The creature laughed once more, and Gold looked again into its eyes.

_Your turn_, said a deep voice in his head.

The Pokémon released its grasp on Gold's arm, and he fell through the night sky, back towards Cinnabar Island. The combination of pain, fear, and the thin air, meant that he only remained conscious for a few seconds, still falling to earth as he blacked out.


	10. Chapter Nine

Gold was battling. Flames and sparks were flying all around the snowy mountaintop as he was calling out orders to his Typhlosion. The blizzard was intense, and Gold could barely see his opponent, but he knew this was a fight he had to win. He could see his Typhlosion was on the verge of collapse, so he knew he only had one chance left.

"Typhlosion, Blast Burn!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

The words had hardly left Gold's lips when his eyes shot open. He sat bolt upright and looked around him, wondering what had become of the snowy battlefield he had been on just moments before. To his surprise, he was no longer on a mountaintop, or even on Cinnabar Island – he was in his own bed, in his own room in New Bark Town.

After a few moments, during which he worked out that his battle in the blizzard had just been a dream, he realised that he wasn't alone in the room. To his right stood a pink-haired nurse and a pair of Chansey, and to his left…

"Gold!" cried his Mom, tears in her eyes, as she almost threw herself at him, holding him in a tight embrace.

Gold winced a little, feeling sore all over his body, but returned the hug as best he could.

"What… happened?" he asked, looking from his Mom to the nurse, and rubbing his head, "Last I remember, I was on Cinnabar Island."

Both women looked shocked.

"Cinnabar Island?" his Mom said, "I heard a knocking at the door about 15 minutes ago, and found you collapsed on the front porch. I called the nurse here as soon as I got you inside, and she had her Chansey tend to your wounds."

"Huh?"

Gold couldn't understand it; he was sure that the attack on Cinnabar Island hadn't been part of his dream… Slowly and slightly painfully, he pulled back the covers of his bed and stood up.

"Gold, where are you going?" his Mom asked, concerned.

Gold walked to the other side of the room and turned on the TV, as his Mom and the nurse exchanged baffled glances. Gold flipped through the channels until he reached the news and, as he feared, was met by images of burning buildings and fleeing crowds.

"_The attacks lasted only a few minutes_," the reporter was saying, "_But this small island community has once again been devastated. Eyewitnesses report sightings of a cloaked figure attacking first the Gym, then civilian buildings. Gym Leader Blaine was rescued from his Gym by his Pokémon after the attack, and is currently being treated at the Cinnabar Island hospital, which was thankfully untouched; doctors say he is in a serious but stable condition. After last week's attack on Blackthorn City, citizens of Tohjo are starting to fear a resurgence of the criminal organisation Team Rocket."_

Everyone in the room stared transfixed at the screen, watching the scenes of destruction. Gold had moved back to sit on the edge of his bed, and his Mom grasped his hand.

"You… you were caught up in that?" she asked.

"Yeah… Although I have no idea how I got back to New Bark Town," Gold replied.

The nurse recommended that Gold get plenty of bed rest, leaving the house to return to Cherrygrove City soon after the news transmission ended. After making sure he was alright, his Mom also retired for the night to let him get some sleep. Laying back on his bed, he glanced at the window, seeing that the first rays of sunlight were just peeking over the horizon. As he was about to close his eyes, he noticed something on his bedside table. Putting out his hand, he took hold of the dark green envelope, with his name written in silver letters. His curiosity mounting, he tore open the envelope and took out the beige paper. Unfolding it, he read the hand-written letter:

_Gold,_

_ I brought you to safety after the attack on Cinnabar, but you are still in grave danger, so don't stay in one place for too long._

_The answers you seek lie in the Cerulean Cave._

Gold didn't recognise the handwriting, and as the letter was unsigned, he had no idea who had sent the message. He replaced the letter on his bedside table, and laid back down again; he was too exhausted to think things through now. Before long, his exhaustion took over and he drifted off to sleep.

It was around midday before Gold woke up from his deep slumber. Still aching a little, he got to his feet, took the letter from his table, and made his way downstairs. His Mom was sitting at the table already, watching the news of the attack on Cinnabar Island; from the bags under her red eyes, Gold suspected she hadn't slept much last night. She smiled at him as he came down the stairs and sat down at the table, where his Mom had already set out his breakfast.

"How are you feeling today, sweetie?" she asked as he started to eat.

"Still a little sore, but better than last night," he answered, "Any more news on Cinnabar Island?"

"The Gym Leader is still unconscious, but the doctors say he's going to be fine," his Mom explained, "The attack only lasted a few minutes, so luckily not too many people were hurt."

"Did they find out who did it?" Gold asked.

"No-one knows for certain," his Mom replied, "But they're advising everyone in Kanto to be extremely cautious for the time being, especially at night. People think that it might be related to the attacks in Sinnoh."

Gold was all too aware of what attacked Cinnabar Island, but he didn't want to worry his Mom unduly. Swallowing another mouthful of breakfast, he took the letter from his pocket and showed it to his Mom.

"I found this on my bedside table last night, do you know who sent it?" Gold asked.

"It was lying on your chest when I found you on the doorstep," she replied, looking the letter over, "I have no idea who it's from, though. Please don't tell me you're thinking of going out to Cerulean Cave! The nurse told you to rest."

Gold was silent for a few moments. Honestly, he was scared of going to the cave in Cerulean City. He had only been there once before, after battling Cerulean City's Gym Leader Misty, and the Pokémon there were terribly powerful. He knew it had once been the home of Mewtwo, and if the mysterious creature was indeed related to the Genetic Pokémon, then he had a horrible feeling that it might be waiting for him in that cave. On the other hand, the writer of the letter wouldn't have saved him from Cinnabar Island, only to throw him right back into danger, would they? Perhaps the 'answer' the letter alluded to was some clue about the creature…

"Mom, I'm sorry, but I think I have to," Gold said putting his hand on his Mom's, "I know it's dangerous, but if last night's attack is related to the ones in Sinnoh, and if they're likely to continue, then I have to do something if there's a possibility I can help stop this, right?"

His Mom was nearly in tears with worry.

"And besides," Gold continued, trying to force a smile, "I've got my Pokémon with me, remember? They'll protect me."

His Mom thought for a few seconds, then nodded; of course she was scared about the prospect of her son going to such a dangerous place, but he was one of the most decorated Pokémon trainers in the region, and now he was nearly seventeen years old, she could hardly keep babying him.

"Just promise me you'll be careful," she said.

Gold walked around the table to her and hugged her close.

"I promise," he said.

Gold flew on his Togekiss in the direction of Cherrygrove City. He had changed his outfit from his signature red and yellow gear to a black hoodie and black jeans; if he might be seen, he didn't want to be recognised easily. In the years since his first adventures in Johto, the Goldenrod to Saffron Magnet Train service had been vastly expanded, stretching to almost every city in the Tohjo area. Therefore, Gold had decided to take the Magnet Train from Cherrygrove City to Cerulean City, a much faster option than flying on Togekiss. Once he reached Cherrygrove, he recalled Togekiss and quickly made his way to the train station, purchasing a ticket and getting on the next train to Kanto, his hood pulled up to obscure his face. Luckily, the train left seconds after he stepped onto it, and sped off towards Kanto. Looking around at the other passengers from under his hood, it was clear that everyone was nervous; people were whispering in little groups, and everyone looked worried. Gold glanced around at every corner of the train carriage, keeping an eye out for any shady characters that might be following him; the anonymous letter had said that he was still in grave danger. However, he didn't notice anyone watching him, so his nerves were calmed, if only slightly, allowing him to get a few hours' sleep.

As the sun was just setting below the horizon, the train pulled into Cerulean City station.


	11. Chapter Ten

Although it was now early evening, the streets of Cerulean City were still crowded enough that Gold could walk through the city without attracting attention. Making his way from the station through the main shopping district, he headed north onto Route 24. As Cerulean Cape, to the north of the city, was a popular attraction for young couples, most of the people walking to and fro along Nugget Bridge were in pairs, making Gold worry that he would draw suspicion; however, the people he encountered were too involved in their own amorous activities to be concerned with him, and so he continued on his way. Upon reaching the end of the bridge, he doubled back along the riverbank, taking the rough, overgrown path leading to Cerulean Cave. Although he was having a hard time seeing the path in the darkness, the streetlamps on the bridge threw just enough light onto the path to enable him to follow it.

After 20 minutes, he finally got to the end of the path, peeking out from behind a tree at the entrance of Cerulean Cave. On the other side of the small clearing was a jagged cave mouth encircling the utter blackness within, as if threatening to swallow anyone who dared to enter. However, what drew Gold's attention was not the cave itself, but the two people standing either side of the cave mouth. It had been many years since he had laid eyes on that black uniform, with its blood-red emblem, but even now he felt his heartbeat increasing as he recognised the two men as Team Rocket grunts.

_So Team Rocket IS involved in all of this_, Gold thought to himself.

Gold stood watching the two men from his hiding place, confident that his black clothes would provide him with adequate camouflage in the shadows at this distance. He saw that the guard was changed every 15 minutes, with two new guards coming to replace the two previous, after exchanging a few words. After seeing this happen twice, Gold had formulated his plan. Reaching to his belt, he grabbed one of his Poké Balls.

"Sunflora, GrassWhistle," Gold whispered, using a nearby bush to disguise the flash of light as he called out his Pokémon.

Gold covered his ears with his hands as Sunflora brought her two leafy arms to her mouth, blowing through them to create a soothing melody which echoed through the area. The two Rocket grunts started upon hearing the noise, but after a couple of seconds they became drowsy, falling to the ground in a deep slumber. Once he was sure they were out cold, Gold recalled Sunflora and ran across the clearing. He started to undress the grunt closest to his own size, and dressed himself up in the Rocket uniform, hiding his own clothes and the two guards' sleeping bodies in a nearby bush. Pulling the cap low over his face, he entered Cerulean Cave.

As he started walking through the cave, the moonlight streaming into the cave mouth provided just enough light to enable him to make his way forward. He was immediately suspicious at the lack of any wild Pokémon; the last time he had been here, he had been set upon almost immediately by a wild Machoke. After walking for a couple of minutes, however, he began to hear the roars of Pokémon, along with a great many echoing footsteps, and he saw a light at the end of the tunnel. After a few hundred metres, the passage opened out into a wide cavern, brightly lit by electric lights; where Gold remembered there once being a roaring river, there now milled hundreds of Team Rocket grunts. To the sides of the cavern stood steel cages, crackling with electricity, containing a wide variety of strong-looking Pokémon which Gold recognised as the species inhabiting Cerulean Cave. Even as he stood watching from the cavern entrance, a Primeape punched the bars of its cage and was blown backwards by the resulting electric shock.

Realising he would look suspicious just standing there, Gold walked quickly and confidently down the steps carved into the side of the former river, into the throng of Rocket grunts. They were all engaged in talking amongst themselves, having small Pokémon battles, or tormenting the caged Pokémon. Taking another look around, Gold couldn't see any sign of the mysterious Pokémon among the caged ones; he did, however, notice a heavy-looking metal door set in one of the walls, which none of the Grunts seemed to be approaching. He made his way over to the door and, noticing that it was slightly ajar, slipped inside, having to use all of his strength to push the door shut behind him.

Once the door was closed on, he took a look around the room he now found himself in. The rocky cave appeared to be a makeshift laboratory of some kind, with long metal benches topped with bottles, papers and assorted instruments. The centre of the room was dominated by a large cylindrical vat of gently-bubbling clear liquid. When he saw what was floating in it, Gold couldn't help but gasp. The purple-and-white-skinned figure facing away from him was largely humanoid, with the exception of a long, thick tail extending from the base of its spine, a pair of tube-like structures running from the creature's shoulder blades to the back of its head, and the familiar four-fingered hands which had grasped Gold's arm the night before – this was the mysterious Pokémon! Hoping that it was asleep, Gold crept slowly and cautiously around the side of the vat, trying to see the creature's face. Before he got that far, however, Gold saw a figure hunched over a bench in front of the vat, and so he quickly ducked under the bench nearest to him to avoid being seen. Looking out from behind the bench, Gold could see that the figure was a short, grey-haired old man, who appeared to be studying some small, glowing red gemstones with a magnifying glass, lifting each one up in turn and appraising it beneath his lens. The man was obviously oblivious to Gold's presence, so he slowly and quietly crept closer to him. When only one bench remained between the two of them, Gold stood up soundlessly, reaching for a bottle on the bench to knock the old man unconscious with. His fingers were mere millimetres from the bottle, however, when his movement was arrested by a menacing laugh which suddenly echoed through the room.

"Not another move, Gold," said a familiar voice which caused Gold's blood to freeze in his veins; from behind a stone pillar at the back of the room stepped a tall man in a black suit, whose black hair was now punctuated by streaks of white.

"Giovanni?" Gold managed to say.

"But of course," the Team Rocket boss replied, a wide smile on his face, "Dear Gold, you look like you've seen a ghost."

"I… I saw you jump into that waterfall," Gold said, shocked, "I saw you die."

It was about five years ago when Gold had first met Giovanni. After having defeated all of the Gym Leaders in both Johto and Kanto, Gold had been doing some training in Ilex Forest with his friend, Crystal, when the pair of them had seen the forest guardian, Celebi, shoot through the trees towards the forest shrine. Following the Time Travel Pokémon, the two had gotten caught up in a time distortion caused by the injured Celebi, and ended up glimpsing into the past of their other friend, Silver, Giovanni's son. Another distortion left them in a cave behind the Tohjo Falls, where Gold ended up face to face with the former Team Rocket Boss. While Gold's past self battled the head of Neo Team Rocket, Archer, Gold's present self fought with Giovanni; both battles resulted in victory for Gold. The combined shock of being defeated by a child again, and of his subordinate once again disbanding his organisation, apparently broke the once-proud boss of Team Rocket, and he had thrown himself into the deep plunge pool of Tohjo Falls in despair. At that moment, Crystal had successfully treated Celebi's wounds and convinced it to take them back to their own time, but Gold was sure that the violent waters and sharp rocks of the waterfall had spelt the end for Giovanni.

The Team Rocket boss, who still appeared to be very much alive, stood laughing at Gold's consternation.

"In a way, you did see me die," Giovanni said, walking towards the old man, who still appeared to be working at his bench as though nothing was happening around him, "And yet you see me here, reborn, my resolve stronger than it has ever been."

As Giovanni reached the bench and started inspecting one of the red gemstones, the old man turned around, revealing the evil grin on his face. He adjusted his red-lensed glasses and chuckled to himself.

"When my spy told me you were boarding the Magnet Train for Cerulean City, I knew you would make your way here," the little man said, "Why do you think it was so easy for you to enter our hideout?"  
When the man said the word 'spy', Gold heard a bizarre cackling from the side of the room. Turning his head, he saw a Sableye laughing to itself, grinning as widely as its master.

Giovanni replaced the red gem on the table, and turned to the old man.

"Good work as always, Charon," Giovanni said, causing the scientist's smile to widen still more, before turning back to Gold, "I don't know how you discovered that we set up our base in Cerulean Cave, Gold, but now you are in our territory, you can be swiftly and cleanly disposed of."

Giovanni clicked his fingers, pointing to the roof of the cave above Gold's head. Looking at where Giovanni was pointing, Gold saw too late the Gliscor that swooped down and pinned him to the floor, its pincers digging painfully into Gold's wrists as he tried to kick off the Fang Scorp Pokémon.

"Goodbye Gold," Giovanni said, smiling sadistically at the scene before him, "Gliscor, Poison Jab!"

Gliscor released one of Gold's arms and drew back its right arm, which began to glow purple with poisonous energy. Despite having one hand free now, Gold was still unable to wrench himself from the Pokémon's grip, and it had positioned itself in such a way that he couldn't even reach for his Poké Balls. As Gliscor was about to bring its poisoned claw down onto Gold's head, the ground beneath Gold started to rumble loudly. With a loud roar, the earth beneath him gave way, and Gold felt himself tumbling down a steep slope, the lights of the laboratory rapidly disappearing away from him. Giovanni's Gliscor had released its grip on Gold entirely when the floor had collapsed, trying not to fall into the hole along with him, but above the sound of falling rock Gold heard Giovanni bellow an order to his Pokémon.

"After him!" he shouted.

Gold saw Gliscor far above him as he fell; it was a long way away, but it was gaining on him. After a minute of tumbling, Gold came to a stop as the shaft gradually levelled off into a horizontal passage. He was bruised and bleeding, but he got to his feet as fast as he could so that he would be ready to face Gliscor. However, from out of the darkness down the tunnel, a blue orb of energy flew right over Gold's head, impacting on the roof of the tunnel a few metres behind Gold and bringing the rocks crashing down with a deafening rumble, blocking the tunnel off and separating Gold from the approaching Pokémon. Now in total darkness, his hand shot to his belt and he grabbed a Poké Ball, calling out his Typhlosion to brighten up the gloom and to face whatever had just tried to attack him.

"Show yourself!" Gold shouted, his voice echoing down the tunnel.

In response to his order, a figure stepped out of the darkness and into the light shed by Typhlosion's flames – it was a Lucario.


	12. Chapter Eleven

Gold and the Lucario stood watching each other for a few seconds. Gold couldn't see or hear a trainer further up the tunnel, but he knew that Lucario wasn't native to the Kanto region. The silence was eventually broken by a thumping sound coming from behind the fallen rocks; Team Rocket were trying to break through. The Lucario made a beckoning motion with its paw, indicating that it wanted Gold to follow it. Although hesitant, Gold had learned that Lucario were generally honourable Pokémon with a strong sense of justice, so he was inclined to trust this Pokémon rather than wait for Team Rocket to break through and find him. Gold nodded at the Lucario, who turned and began walking further into the tunnel, with Gold and Typhlosion following. Soon, the sound of digging faded into the distance, as the trio walked deep into the maze of passages, Lucario confidently leading them down each tunnel. Gold also noticed that the wild Pokémon were leaving them all well alone; he saw them watching from the shadows at the edge of Typhlosion's light. As they walked, Gold thought back on what had happened. Giovanni had said he didn't know how Gold had found their base in Cerulean Cave, meaning that he hadn't sent Gold the note to lure him in; in that case, who HAD sent it? Another thing which bugged him was who the little old scientist was; he knew he recognised the name Charon, but he couldn't quite put his finger on where he had heard the name before… And then there was this Lucario, who had at first tried to attack him and was now apparently helping him. As he was pondering this last point, something occurred to him – Lucario had attacked with Aura Sphere, and the move always hit its mark, meaning Lucario had intended to collapse the tunnel.

"Back there, you tried to save us by collapsing the tunnel, didn't you?" Gold asked the Lucario, who turned and nodded slightly, still continuing forward.

"Thank you," he continued, before asking, "Are you here with your trainer?"

Gold wondered why Lucario's trainer, assuming it wasn't wild, wasn't showing themself; however, his question was met with silence, and Lucario just kept on walking as it had been.

"Where are you taking us?" Gold tried again, but was met with the same silence.

Gold had lost track of how long they had been walking, but at length he saw a light ahead of them, accompanied by a cool breeze which blew away the dank air of the tunnels. Exiting the tunnel, Gold looked out and saw a sloping forest, leading away to a brightly lit city far below. The large, sky-blue building at its centre allowed Gold to identify the settlement as Cerulean City. Noticing the Nugget Bridge a little closer to him, Gold realised that he was on the hills overlooking Cerulean Cape. Recalling Typhlosion, he turned to the Lucario, who also seemed to be admiring the view.

"Thank you for getting us out of there," he said.

The Aura Pokémon looked back at Gold, and seemed to smile at him, before dashing off into the forest at speed without warning. Gold was about to call after it, when he heard footsteps approaching from within the forest, in the opposite direction from which Lucario had departed. Fearing that it might be a Team Rocket patrol, he retreated a few steps back into the cave mouth. However, to his surprise, the man who stepped out from between the trees was clad in a smart blue suit and tie with green trousers. He stopped a few metres from the cave entrance, looking around as though he was waiting for someone. Gold stepped out into the moonlight.

"Bill?" he said, addressing the man.

Bill jumped, turned to face Gold, and instantly turned pale.

"R-r-rocket!?" he stammered.

Gold then realised that he was still wearing the stolen Team Rocket uniform, so he quickly took off the cap and stepped closer to the scared researcher.

"No, Bill, it's me!" Gold said, "It's Gold, from New Bark Town."

At first Bill seemed unable to comprehend, but gradually he calmed down, his expression going from fearful to confused.

"Gold? What're ya doin' all the way out here? And in a darn Rocket uniform, too!" Bill questioned, almost shouting.

"Ssssh, keep your voice down!" Gold whispered, "The Rockets are probably still trying to find me, we need to get out of here."

Bill nodded, having regained his composure.

"Follow me," he said, leading Gold back down the hillside, in the direction of Sea Cottage.

"So what brings ya all the way out here?" Bill continued, "When I got the note just now, never expected it'd be from you."

"Note?" Gold asked, confused, "I didn't send you a note."

"You didn't?" Bill said, now looking just as perplexed as Gold, "Then, who in tarnation sent this?"

So saying, Bill drew a small piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Gold, who recognised both the beige stationery and the silver handwriting. The note read:

_Bill,_

_ A friend wishes to meet with you. Please come immediately to the cave above Cerulean Cape, as this is a matter of the utmost importance._

"I don't know who sent this," Gold said, returning the note to Bill, "But whoever it was, they also sent me a note telling me to go to Cerulean Cave."

"This is a mighty curious affair," said Bill, stroking his chin as they walked, "I think ya better fill me in on what's been goin' on, especially with that Rocket uniform you're still wearin'."

Gold explained everything that had happened, giving a brief overview of his last few days in Sinnoh, the attacks by the mysterious Pokémon, his arrival in Cinnabar, the mysterious note he received at home, and his discovery of Team Rocket's hideout in Cerulean Cave. Bill looked more and more puzzled as Gold's narrative went on.

"This all sounds real serious," Bill said once Gold's story had concluded, and Sea Cottage was in sight, "Although, I'm thinking maybe we can start sheddin' a little light on the situation."

"You can?" Gold asked.

Bill smiled.

"You arrived just in time," he said, "We've just managed to crack the encryption on those files the International Police sent us."

The last time Gold had visited Sea Cottage, Bill's grandfather had been housesitting for the Pokémon researcher while he was working in Goldenrod City. In the years since his return, the number of machines and books in the cottage seemed to have increased exponentially, as not a patch of wall was visible in the house's main room behind all of the bookshelves, monitors and complex devices, giving an air of chaos. However, when Bill and Gold first stepped into the room, the first thing that Gold noticed was that, in spite of the disorder in the room, there was still a pleasant aroma floating around. Amongst the scattered books on the tables, and on the window sills, sat vases of colourful flowers.

"Welcome back, honey," came a woman's voice from across the room.

A young woman in a yellow floral pattern dress came towards Bill and Gold, carrying a tray with a teapot and four tea cups. As the two accepted a cup of tea each, Gold looked at the vaguely familiar woman, knowing he had seen her before but being unable to place her. When she noticed this attention from the young man, the woman smiled.

"You're Gold, aren't you?" she asked, "I'm Hannah, Bill's wife. You and I met in Goldenrod City a few years ago, I believe."

"Ah, of course," Gold said, remembering at last, "You're the one from the flower shop who gave me the SquirtBottle. Nice to meet you again."

Gold's attention then turned to the other person in the room, a brown-haired man wearing a blue-chequered shirt and glasses, who Gold didn't recognise. The man accepted the tea politely from Hannah, then returned to work without even looking up at Bill and Gold. Bill laughed.

"That's Celio for ya, always hard at work," he said.

"I think that after this, we'll all have earned a long break," came a voice from one of the screens on the far wall.

As Gold looked up to where the voice had come from, he realised that one of the big screens in the room was being used for a video conference call. The screen was split into four panels, three showing a video image of a woman's face, and the fourth showing the feed from Bill's house. Gold recognised all three women on the screen from his travels around Hoenn and Sinnoh – the red-haired sisters were Lanette and Brigette from Hoenn, and the blonde woman was Bebe from Sinnoh, all of whom were renowned computer technicians.

"And with this, we are done!" said Celio triumphantly, hitting a button on the computer keyboard before standing up and stretching his arms above his head.

The large computer screen beside the one displaying the conference call suddenly burst into life, displaying computer folders full of files. Bill smiled before turning to Gold.

"See? Told ya we cracked it!" he said, "Now to send this to the professors and see what clues we can find."

While Celio got to work e-mailing the files to the professors of the regions affected by the mysterious Pokémon, Bill opened up his own laptop and started looking around the files himself, Gold watching over his shoulder. Bill started by opening the first file in the folder. When he saw the title of the document, Gold's blood froze. _Project Mewthree_, it read.


	13. Chapter Twelve

Gold, Bill and Celio spent the next few hours poring over all of the newly-decrypted files. Bill had found Gold some spare clothes so he could change out of the Team Rocket uniform, which was swiftly destroyed in the back garden with a burst of flame from Typhlosion, and while they all looked through the files together, Hannah helped Gold tend to his wounds. Most of the text files they came across consisted of experimental data and DNA sequences which meant little to any of them, but in one of the folders they found a collection of audio files, titled with dates from the past four years. Bill selected the first of these files, turning up the sound. A slightly high-pitched male voice came through the speakers.

"_Project Mewthree, week one_," the voice they presumed to be Dudley's said, "_My former employer, Giovanni, has contacted me to request my assistance in a project which will facilitate the return of Team Rocket. He has furnished me with the notes from Project Mewtwo, in addition to fresh DNA samples from the mirage Pokémon Mew. Mewtwo's initial instability was believed to be caused in part by the age of the DNA samples, whereas Giovanni has managed to find fresh samples from Faraway Island, home to a small number of Mew until recent years. I shall endeavour to improve upon Dr. Fuji's original designs to create the world's most powerful Pokémon._"

Gold had heard about Faraway Island, although he had never been there. When he had visited Lavender Town in Kanto, he had heard from Mr. Fuji, the former head scientist of Team Rocket, that the island was in a distant ocean, surrounded by dangerous currents which were only navigable using an old sea chart. The area had been designated as a protected nature reserve in order to prevent poaching of Mew, the island's only inhabitants, but Pokémon hunters still braved the stormy seas in an attempt to catch the rare Pokémon, and as a result the Mew fled, leaving the island deserted. By the sound of Dudley's recording, however, they had left some remnants behind.

The trio continued listening to the short audio diaries. For about a year, Dudley appeared to have had no success in cloning the DNA samples, regardless of the methods he used, and he was becoming slowly more agitated. Until…

"_Project Mewthree, week sixty four_," said the distinctly more chirpy voice, "_Giovanni has brought me a willing human test subject. Although I was a little dubious at first, he assures me that the subject has consented to taking part in any experimental procedures, and that I am to use him as a template in this project. My knowledge of human genetic engineering is limited, but I shall look through the old Team Rocket records once more, along with the restricted Team Plasma files, and see what I can come up with. The subject will remain here at the P2 Laboratory, so my fellow Team Plasma members don't discover my research in the name of Team Rocket!_"

The three listening to the file were horrified.

"So," Gold said, "that Pokémon started out as a human? That's horrible!"

"Who the heck would go through with somethin' like that willingly?" Bill wondered aloud.

As they continued listening to the files, the full nature of the 'experimental procedures' was revealed. Dudley described in detail the injection of modified stem cells, the grafting of tissue samples, and all manner of painful-sounding operations he had put the test subject through. They also looked through the series of photographs and x-rays which showed that, over time, the test subject's morphology was changing to become something between human and Pokémon – x-rays showed that his bones were becoming thicker and stronger, and a tail was sprouting from the base of his spine; photographs of the subject's hands showed that the little finger of each hand gradually receded, shortening until only four digits remained; pictures of his back showed the development of tubes extending from the body to the head to 'increase the flow of blood to the brain and elevate the subject's psychic powers'. Dudley noted that these procedures left the subject in crippling pain, sometimes for days on end, but that, far from weakening the subject, seemed only to strengthen him. The extent of this power was also expanded upon in the audio files.

"_Project Mewthree, week one hundred and fifty one. The subject is showing tremendous control over its powers, just a few months after they started to develop. It has already mastered most techniques of the Psychic- and Normal-type during its training sessions with Giovanni, which is testament to the success of the procedure in allowing it to unlock every Pokémon attack in Mew's genome. Perhaps I can use these results in Project Resurrection. In any case, next week Giovanni intends to have the subject learn Fire-type moves, and I am sure it will perfect them just as quickly as it has done with the Psychic- and Normal-types."_

The Pokémon's power appeared to grow with each week's entry, as Dudley noted its mastery over every element's attacks, and his voice sounded happier and happier each time. However, it appeared his elation soon ended.

"_Project Mewthree, week two hundred and three, final entry. Giovanni has decided to hand control of the project over to some old guy from Sinnoh! Four years of devotion to this project, MY project, and he takes it away from me? And my situation with Team Plasma is no better! Lord N is pulling all my funding from Project Resurrection, with some high and mighty speech about Pokémon being perfect beings which aren't to be tampered with! Heh, we'll see about that. I have to be cautious though, because some young upstarts from Nuvema Town have been defeating our troops left, right and centre. I know all too well that those types can spell the end for organisations like this, so if Team Plasma is toppled, I'm going to need to get out of here quickly; I'd better make sure I add flight drives to Genesect._"

This was the last audio file in the folder, and judging by the date on it, Dudley was incarcerated about a year afterwards. The information they had just learned left Gold feeling terrified, and sick to the stomach. A human had consented to being turned into a Pokémon hybrid, undergoing years of agonising experiments which altered the very shape of his body; Gold couldn't fathom what would drive someone to go along with something so dangerous and disturbing.

"Anyway," Celio said, still looking at some of the picture and text files, "all we can do now is see what the professors come up with. They're well-versed in the study of Pokémon genetics, so maybe they can find some weakness to exploit in this Mewthree creature."

Now they had finished listening to the files, Gold suddenly became aware of just how tired he was. Looking at a clock on the wall, he realised it was about 2 a.m., so he decided it was high time to leave and find a place to rest for the night, before thinking about where to go from there.

"You can stay here for the night, ya know?" Bill offered, moving some piles of books on the floor aside, "We do have a couch somewhere in here."

"No thanks," Gold replied, "Team Rocket probably still has some grunts looking for me, and I don't want to draw any danger here; I've probably stayed too long already, but I promise I'll be in touch again soon."

With that, Gold stepped out into the night. He wanted to put as much distance between himself and Sea Cottage as possible before settling down to sleep, so he decided to set up camp on the mountainside overlooking Route 9. Following the hills around Cerulean Cape, he moved quickly and quietly; he didn't want to draw the attention of any Team Rocket patrols or wild Pokémon. Thankfully, the Pokémon in this area generally lived in the grassy plains lower down the hill, so after about an hour of undisturbed hiking, he finally reached an empty cave in the side of the mountains which he decided would make a decent resting place. After rolling up his jacket for a pillow and lying down for the night, he looked out across the landscape below. In the distance, he could see the Kanto Power Plant, newly fitted to run on hydroelectric power from the nearby river instead of fossil fuels, a move inspired by the green energy initiative of the Sinnoh region. Now that he thought about it, Gold remembered that it was Team Rocket who had been causing problems the last time he had visited the Power Plant. These old memories returned to Gold's mind as he drifted off to sleep.


	14. Chapter Thirteen

Gold picked himself up off of the ground and ran over to his Typhlosion, laying a few metres away from him. The intensity of his attack had melted a lot of the snow in the nearby area, revealing the jet-black rock of the mountain itself. Typhlosion was badly hurt, so Gold recalled him to his Poké Ball before running over to where his opponent had stood. The other trainer was nowhere to be seen, so Gold walked a few steps further before his progress was halted by a sheer drop, ending so far down that he couldn't see the bottom through the blizzard. If his opponent had been knocked off of that cliff…

Gold's eyes shot open as he awoke from his dream. It took him a few moments to remember where he was, after which he put on his jacket and stepped out into the sunlight. Feeling famished, he decided to make his way down to Cerulean City, grab a bite to eat, then get in touch with Bill and Professor Rowan again to plan his next move. However, as he reached the outskirts of the city, he could see that all was not well. There were very few people out on the streets, and those that were ran about rather than walking, the fear plain on their faces. Gold made his way cautiously through side streets, rather than taking the city's main thoroughfares, in case there were Team Rocket grunts patrolling the streets. At every crossing he peeked out from the side alley to ensure there were no Rockets, before hurrying to the next street; he didn't see any grunts as he made his way through the city.

Gold was a few streets away from the train station when he thought he heard someone coughing. He looked around him but, seeing nothing but bins and skips, felt that he was just being paranoid, and so he continued on his way. However, he had barely gone ten more steps when he heard a rough, quiet voice right beside him.

"H… hey…"

Turning to where the voice had come from, Gold was shocked to see a middle-aged man sitting up against the wall between two metal bins, his face bruised and bleeding, with patches of blood on his white shirt. Gold knelt closer to the man and began checking his wounds, trying to assess their severity.

"Are you okay?" Gold asked, "Who did this to you?"

"Heh, I'll be fine," the man said, attempting to stand up but falling back, wincing in pain, "Ugh… Those damn Rockets…"

"Rockets? They're here?"

Gold looked around to make sure they weren't being watched. The man shook his head.

"They left as soon as they'd dumped me here," he explained, "A bunch of them showed up in the city centre just after sunrise. When I heard Rockets were showing their ugly faces here again, I wasn't having any of it. After those scumbags robbed me ten years ago, I made it my duty to keep them out of town for good. I marched on down there to give them a piece of my mind, but there were so many of them that my poor Dugtrio and I never stood a chance. They beat me, then dumped me here and left me for dead. Guess I'm tougher than they thought," he added, forcing a smile.

"We've got to get you to the hospital," said Gold, but the man shook his head again.

"They've got the hospital covered too," he said, "If I show my face there, they'll finish me off. My home isn't too far from here, if I can get back there I can rest up and I'll be fine."

Gold stood up, offering his hand to the man to help him up. Once he was on his feet, Gold draped the man's arm over his own shoulder, supporting him as they made their way slowly out of the alley and up one of the bigger streets, drawing some looks from the occasional hurried passer-by.

"Are you sure we won't get caught by any Rockets going this way?" Gold asked.

"We'll be fine," the man said, "They're all too busy setting things up in the city centre to worry about patrolling the side streets."

Although a little reassured by this, Gold nevertheless kept looking around to ensure they weren't being watched. Thankfully, five minutes later they were at the man's doorstep, and Gold delivered him into the care of his wife and daughter. After helping them carry him to his bed, and ensuring they had sufficient medicine in the house to look after him for the time being, Gold hurried out of the house again, the family shouting their thanks behind him.

Gold ran through the streets towards the city centre, emboldened by the knowledge that there were no Rocket patrols walking around. In just a few minutes he could see the central plaza in front of the Gym, and the hundred or so black-uniformed grunts standing around a huge television screen which had certainly not been there the day before. A few of the braver residents of the city, including the Gym Leader Misty, were standing in front of the screen and the Rockets, their Pokémon beside them in readiness. However, the grunts didn't seem to be showing any signs of hostility, standing around as if waiting for something to happen. From his vantage point in the alleyway, Gold soon found out what they were waiting for, as the giant screen suddenly came on, displaying the red Rocket emblem on a black backdrop for a few seconds before the imposing figure of Giovanni walked onto the screen.

"People of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh," came the voice of the Rocket Boss over the loudspeakers on either side of the screen, "I am Giovanni, head of Team Rocket, and the new emperor of this great nation."

The small crowd in front of the screen, Gold included, were stunned at this proclamation. He could see Misty's facial expression changing very rapidly from anger to outright rage, an emotion apparently shared by the Gyarados close beside her, which roared at the image of Giovanni. Almost in response, the picture on the screen changed, showing a montage of video footage from many of the major cities in the regions Giovanni had just claimed dominion over; like Cerulean City, all of them had a small army of Grunts in the city centre, and the same screen projecting the images to the populace.

"This broadcast is going out on all television and radio frequencies," he continued, "As you can see, my loyal soldiers have taken up positions in every settlement in the country, so I would not recommend that any of you resist me. Any resistance shall be met with utter annihilation at the hands of my most powerful weapon."

At this, the camera zoomed out to show more of the room Giovanni was standing in. To his right, a familiar figure in a black cloak was floating a few inches off the ground, its tail waving slowly from side to side behind it.

"This is Mewthree. Those of you living in Blackthorn City and Cinnabar Island in particular should be well aware of this Pokémon's destructive capabilities. The same fate will befall any city which attempts to defy me."

The crowd apparently knew all too well what the Pokémon was capable of, as Misty and the others drew back a little, much to the amusement of the army of Team Rocket grunts.

"However," Giovanni said, smiling evilly, "To prove that I am not entirely without mercy, I shall give you all one chance to oppose my rule. I extend an invitation to four select trainers, the finest in the country, to do battle with Mewthree, in matches to be broadcast all across the nation. If any of them succeed in defeating Mewthree, then I shall concede defeat and relinquish my power; on the other hand, if they all fall before my Pokémon, then I shall put my laws in place and take full control of the country. The trainers I have chosen to represent you are Lance, champion of the Tohjo region, Wallace, champion of the Hoenn region, Cynthia, champion of the Sinnoh region, and Gold, one of the most decorated trainers in Johto."

Gold turned very pale at this summons. As he had escaped from Team Rocket's base the day before, he'd had an inkling that Giovanni would select him to battle Mewthree, although the prospect of facing that Pokémon again still filled him with dread.

"And in case any of you aren't feeling up to this challenge, a little warning – any of you who don't accept my invitation will be responsible for the complete destruction of the region you represent. Come to the summit of Mt. Silver in three days, and we shall decide the fate of this nation."

With that, the screen cut to black again.

When it became clear that the Team Rocket grunts stationed in the city centre would not act unless provoked, the people of Cerulean City began to go about their daily business once again, albeit nervously. Using the crowds as cover, Gold made his way back to the train station, boarding the Magnet Train for Cherrygrove City; if he was about to face the fight of his life, he at least wanted to see his Mom one last time, and prepare at his own home in New Bark Town.

His Mom had seen the broadcast, and the moment Gold walked in the door, she hugged him tightly, sobbing into his shoulder. Once he had managed to calm her down a little, assuring her that everything was going to be fine, Gold sat her down and made them both some tea. Sitting down with her, he explained everything that had happened since he had left for Cerulean Cave; he knew it would worry her, but if this might be the last time he ever saw her, he wanted to be totally honest and open.

"Th-there has to be another way," she said, "You can't go and face that thing, you can't!"

"I have no choice, Mom," Gold replied, "Not unless I condemn the whole Johto region to destruction."

His mother just wept as Gold held her hand.

Gold spent the next two days training on the outskirts of New Bark Town, in a desperate attempt to ready himself for the coming battle; his nights were still punctuated by dreams of his previous battle atop Mt. Silver. He called up Bill soon after he arrived home to let him know he was safe; he also called Professor Rowan to see if he had come up with anything after receiving the decrypted files about Mewthree, but so far the professor had found no weaknesses that Gold could use to his advantage.

"I am afraid that Platinum and I can only offer you our prayers on this occasion," said the professor sadly; Platinum stood behind him looking equally upset.

All too soon, the third day dawned. All the residents of New Bark Town gathered to see Gold set off, while the Rocket grunts stationed in the town just watched with amusement. Climbing on board Togekiss, Gold flew north towards the highest point in the Tohjo region. Even from a distance, he could see that the clouds at the peak of the mountain were particularly dark and dense, even more so than usual for the perpetually blizzard-enveloped summit, which further increased his unease.


	15. Chapter Fourteen

Gold and Togekiss made their way to the peak of Mt. Silver through the worsening blizzard. Buffeted by the flurries of snow, Togekiss was having a hard time staying airborne, and Gold was having trouble holding on. Eventually, Gold decided he had no choice but to continue on foot, and had Togekiss put him down as near as he could fly to the peak before recalling him. Just like the last time he had made the perilous journey up the mountain, he called out his Typhlosion to melt a path through the deep snow with his Flamethrower, and so the two made their way higher and higher, up towards the peak. As they walked, Gold stayed close to Typhlosion in an effort to stay warm in the bitter cold, as his jacket seemed to be having little effect.

After walking for about half an hour, Gold thought he could see the sky brightening just up ahead, and so, in spite of his exhausted legs, he and Typhlosion quickened their pace. As they got closer to the brightness, however, Gold realised that it was caused, not by sunlight, but by bright floodlights. Approaching the light, he found himself at the edge of a sheer drop, overlooking what Gold thought was a meteor impact crater at first. As he stared at the sight below, Gold noticed the carved tiers of seats, and staircases around the edges of the crater, and recognised it for what it was – a great stadium, hewn into the very rock of Mt. Silver.

Seeing a staircase leading down to the floor of the stadium, Gold recalled Typhlosion and slowly made his way downwards. After about a dozen steps, he noticed that the temperature suddenly increased to a comfortable degree, and the snow had ceased, despite the ominous clouds and blizzard conditions above; the snow seemed to disappear as it reached the top of the stadium. Looking around at the top rim of the crater, Gold soon realised why – hundreds of Psyduck and Golduck were huddled together in metal cages embedded in the edge of the rim, the same type of cages which Team Rocket had used to trapped the Pokémon of Cerulean Cave; their Cloud Nine ability was blocking out the blizzard. They looked at Gold with pleading eyes as he continued down the staircase.

As he reached the bottom of the staircase, Gold saw that, although there were no crowds in the stands, there were still some people in the stadium. Standing on the far side of the battlefield were three trainers who, even at this distance, Gold recognised as Lance, Wallace and Cynthia. They turned around to face him as he approached.

"You certainly took your time," said the red-haired Dragon master coldly.

"Excuse me?" replied Gold as his hand reflexively went to his belt, stung by this greeting.

"Please excuse our comrade's manners," said Wallace, stepping forward to intervene, "But as you can imagine, we are all a little on edge at the present time."

Lance gave a dismissive 'humph' before walking off a little way, and Gold relaxed the hand gripping Politoed's Poké Ball. Wallace went over to Lance to try and calm him down, as Cynthia approached Gold.

"Giovanni hasn't shown up yet?" Gold asked her, getting straight to the point.

"Not yet," the Sinnoh champion replied, shaking her head, "But now you've arrived, it's only a matter of time."

"Do you have any strategy for beating Mewthree?" Gold pressed, hoping that Cynthia, with her experience, would have some plan in mind; however, she shook her head once again.

"I'm afraid not," she admitted, before putting her hand on Gold's shoulder and looking him in the eye intensely, "However, I will say this – not everything here is as it appears, so be ready for anything."

Before he could question Cynthia about this mysterious warning, the four trainers felt the ground beneath them shuddering. On each side of the arena, a platform rose out of the ground for each battling trainer to stand on, the same as in a standard stadium; however, these too appeared to be carved from the black rock of Mt. Silver. Standing on the platform on the far side of the arena as it rose out of the floor was Giovanni, with the cloaked and hooded Mewthree by his side.

"Welcome, my esteemed guests," the Team Rocket boss said with a malicious smile, "Are you ready to stand up against your new emperor?"

All four of them glared up at Giovanni with hatred in their eyes, and Lance stepped forward.

"After what you did to Blackthorn City, I'm sending you back to hell!" he shouted.

Giovanni merely laughed at this threat, before pointing at the enraged champion.

"Thank you for volunteering to be my first challenger, Lance," he said calmly, "Kindly take your place on the battle platform, and we shall begin."

As Lance walked up the steps to the platform, a group of Magneton descended from above the rim of the stadium, each carrying three cameras using its magnets. Slowly, the Magneton began to circle the battlefield, ready to capture the battle on camera and transmit it to every television in the country. The whole population was watching eagerly, hoping that one of these trainers could depose their new self-proclaimed emperor.

"This shall be a six-on-one single-format battle; feel free to substitute your Pokémon as much as you please," explained Giovanni as Mewthree floated onto the battlefield, waiting for its opponent.

"Heh, I won't need to substitute, I'll only need one Pokémon to finish this!" shouted Lance, hurling a Poké Ball onto the battlefield, "Dragonite, Outrage!"

Dragonite sprang from his Poké Ball and instantly hurtled towards Mewthree, his eyes glowing red with all of the rage he shared with his master. Tackling Mewthree to the ground with such force that the rock below them cracked in a shower of black shards, he proceeded to pummel the apparently helpless Pokémon with his glowing blue fists. Lance grinned with satisfaction as his partner tore into his opponent; he was watching the battle so intently that he didn't notice Giovanni's equally wide grin.

"Seismic Toss," said the Rocket boss.

Mewthree's four-fingered right hand shot out from within its cloak, grasping Dragonite's neck, augmenting its grip with its psychic powers. Dragonite was broken out of his enraged state, his eyes returning to normal as he gazed in shock at the opponent he had been thrashing just moments before. Mewthree shot up into the air faster than anyone's eyes could follow, carrying Dragonite with it, before going into a head-over-heels spin at the top of the stadium, at speeds dizzying the assembled trainers. After a good ten seconds of this, Mewthree suddenly released its opponent, sending him to the floor with such force that the ground didn't just crack beneath Dragonite, it formed a foot-deep crater in the solid rock. The Dragon Pokémon staggered painfully to his feet as Mewthree slowly floated to the ground in front of Giovanni.

"Come now, is that all your prized Dragon-types have got to offer?" Giovanni taunted.

"Ugh, Dragonite, Hyper Beam attack!" Lance commanded, enraged further by the taunt.

With all the strength he could muster, Dragonite launched the beam of destructive energy at his foe. Mewthree's arms went out before it to absorb the blow, bracing itself as it was slid backwards by the force of the attack. When its body started to shimmer, Gold knew what was about to happen; he had seen Mewthree's Mirror Coat before. A bolt of dazzling light shot from Mewthree's hands, striking Dragonite square in the chest and sending him flying backwards, coming to rest at the bottom of his master's platform.

"Dragonite!" Lance shouted, deeply concerned for his unconscious partner as he recalled him to his Poké Ball.

"Rest assured that Mewthree could have knocked out your Dragonite in one attack," Giovanni said, indicating the Magneton holding the cameras, "But we have to put on a good show for our audience, now don't we? Now, call out your next Pokémon."

Lance's Pokémon all fell in a similar manner to his Dragonite. He sent out his Salamence and Kingdra individually, and while each Pokémon was able to get in two or three attacks on Mewthree, they barely seemed to faze it, as it retaliated with brutal force; Salamence was felled by a Stone Edge which perforated his powerful wings, and Kingdra was knocked out by a Dragon Pulse which Mewthree pre-empted using Me First. In desperation and frustration, Lance sent out his final three Pokémon – Haxorus, Hydreigon and Flygon – at the same time, hoping to overcome Mewthree by sheer weight of numbers. Giovanni smiled, shaking his head and laughing quietly to himself.

"Teeter Dance."

Mewthree responded with a bizarre, wobbling dance, its cloak flapping up to reveal its four-toed, purple feet with each spin. The three Dragon Pokémon watched, almost hypnotised, and began to sway rhythmically along with Mewthree. Lance realised what was happening, and tried to give commands before it was too late.

"All of you, Outrage!" he shouted.

All three of them began to glow with blue, draconic energy, before turning on each other, seemingly oblivious to their real foe. Giovanni was laughing loudly, and Lance almost thought he could hear another, even crueller laugh in his head.

"Mewthree, finish this," commanded Giovanni, "Sheer Cold!"

Mewthree's eyes glowed bright blue, and the ground below the three sparring Dragon-types' feet began to shimmer with the same light.

"Haxorus! Hydreigon! Flygon! Snap out of it!" Lance shouted desperately, but they were deaf to their master's commands.

In a flash of blue light which dazzled the onlookers, all three Pokémon were frozen solid, encased in a thick shell of ice. Giovanni continued to laugh as Lance was forced to recall his incapacitated Pokémon, while Mewthree glowed green momentarily with the energy of Recover.

"Had Mewthree not already destroyed Blackthorn City," Giovanni said, "I would have had it wipe your hometown off the map for breaking my rules. Let that be a warning to the rest of you."

Lance descended the steps from the platform, his fists clenched in barely-contained anger.

"I'm sorry, my Pokémon," he said under his breath.

Giovanni chose Wallace to battle him next. Seeing that Lance's brute force strategy had been unsuccessful, the Water-type master decided to use his graceful tactics to evade Mewthree's attacks and launch a counterattack before it had time to react. At first it seemed to work, as Milotic managed to hit Mewthree in the back with Hydro Pump after evading a Psycho Cut. However, when Milotic slithered up to his opponent for a follow-up attack with Aqua Tail, Mewthree's own tail glowed a bright green, and whipped into the side of Milotic's head, the Leaf Blade attack sending him flying across the battlefield with a vicious cut across his cheek. One by one, Wallace's Pokémon were defeated, despite their swift manoeuvers; even Sharpedo, which Wallace hoped would have some advantage against the presumably Psychic-type Mewthree, was brought down with an unexpected Mach Punch. As a last-ditch effort, Wallace had his Starmie continually evade Mewthree's attacks, in an attempt to wear the Pokémon down. After around five minutes of successful evasion, however, it was Starmie itself which was worn down; Giovanni, who had clearly been toying with his opponent, had Mewthree finish the battle with a Shadow Ball which badly cracked Starmie's red core.

Cynthia was the next trainer to take to the battlefield. As she did not confine herself to a single Pokémon type, she showered Mewthree with attacks of every element, and for the first time it looked like Mewthree might have met its match; right from the off, she had her Spiritomb use Will-O-Wisp, then while Mewthree was throwing off the status effect with Refresh, she followed up with a Pain Split. Although this seemed to weaken Mewthree for a while, a Leech Seed soon sapped Spiritomb of her strength, reinvigorating the seemingly-unbeatable Pokémon.

Throughout the battle, Gold watched Cynthia's Pokémon closely, trying to discern some weakness in Mewthree, in case it fell to him to defeat the Pokémon which had beaten him several times already. Although he didn't find any clues to improve his own battle strategy, Gold did notice one thing which struck him as curious. Spiritomb, Togekiss, Lucario, Glaceon, Roserade and Milotic were called out, but there was no sign of Garchomp, Cynthia's signature Pokémon. Cynthia's Milotic fared little better than Wallace's; although she managed to maintain her stamina by sheathing herself in Aqua Ring, a few Thunderbolts, followed by a ThunderPunch under the chin, finished her off. After recalling her final, unconscious Pokémon, Cynthia descended from the platform, gazing up at the sky as though distracted.

Finally, the moment came that Gold had been dreading – Giovanni pointed at him, summoning him to battle with Mewthree. Gold stood tall as he walked up the steps towards the platform; if this was a battle for the freedom of his country, he was going to give it his all. As he reached the top of the steps, he glared across at Giovanni, whose smile seemed to have become even more malicious.

"Before we begin, Gold, I have a question for you," said Giovanni, "Did you ever wonder why Mewthree attacked you outside the Resort Area two weeks ago?"

"It was attacking strong trainers," Gold reasoned, "It attacked the Battle Frontier straight afterwards."

Giovanni shook his head.

"But then, why did it attack you on Cinnabar Island, rather than continuing its attack on Sinnoh?" Giovanni asked.

"Because I was trying to find out more about Mewthree?" Gold said, starting to wonder whether he was missing something.

"Heh, in part," Giovanni replied, "But you see, the main reason is that Mewthree wanted to battle you so very much."

Gold heard the familiar laughter in his head and, looking over at the three champions, could tell that they could hear it too.

"Mewthree," Giovanni continued, "Kindly dispose of your cape, and show everyone your face!"

Obeying its master's command, Mewthree threw its black cloak to the ground, and Gold looked upon a startlingly familiar face, as the blood drained from his own.


	16. Chapter Fifteen

Gold had only met Red once, although he had been an admirer of his since he was eight years old. When he had seen Red's victory over Indigo Plateau's champion Blue on television, he knew that he wanted to be an amazing trainer, just like the prodigy from Pallet Town. On Gold's tenth birthday, the young boy had arrived at Professor Elm's laboratory an hour early, so eager was he to begin his own Pokémon journey. He had battled his way through Johto and Kanto, getting stronger in the hope of one day meeting, battling and surpassing his idol. This chance came after Gold had beaten Viridian City's Gym Leader Blue, and earned his final badge in Kanto, the Earth Badge. With sixteen badges to his name, he had obtained permission from Professor Oak to train on Mt. Silver, home to Tohjo's most powerful Pokémon, and only accessible to those who had beaten all sixteen of the local Gyms. As Gold passed through Viridian City on his way from Pallet Town to Mt. Silver, Blue had approached him, telling him that Red, Blue's own rival, had been training on the mountain; Gold wasted no time in reaching the foot of Mt. Silver and starting his ascent.

After hours of trekking through dark, dank caves and the mountain's blizzard-shrouded exterior, Gold had finally reached the summit and, coming into view through the snow, his idol stood as though he had been waiting for the young trainer. As though they understood each other's thoughts, they had wordlessly commenced a Pokémon battle of immense power and intensity. Despite Red's extra years of battling experience, Gold managed to hold his own, until each stood beside their last Pokémon – Gold with his Typhlosion, and Red with Pikachu, the Pokémon he had received from Professor Oak at the start of his own Pokémon journey. The battle between these two Pokémon was just as intense as the rest of their teammates, both trainers enjoying themselves more than they could have imagined, with a smile on their faces. Eventually, both Pokémon had just enough strength for one final attack, the most powerful in their arsenal.

As Red's Pikachu hurtled towards Typhlosion, cloaked in the crackling energy of Volt Tackle, Gold ordered his Pokémon to unleash a fiery Blast Burn attack. Typhlosion's fireball collided with Pikachu, resulting in a massive explosion of blinding light which sent Gold and Typhlosion flying backwards onto the ground, the heat melting all the surrounding snow. When Gold's senses returned to him a few seconds later, Red and Pikachu were nowhere to be seen; Gold ran to the spot where his opponent had been standing, and found the sheer drop a few feet behind where Red had been just moments before. If Red had been blown off of the cliff, there was no way he could have survived…

Gold had hurried back to the bottom of the mountain and immediately informed the authorities. Despite the extensive search of the whole of Mt. Silver, no trace of Red could be found; although this implied that he had gotten away from the mountain, no-one had seen or heard from him since the battle, not even his mother. Gold was briefly suspected of having murdered Red, but the police's use of mind-reading Psychic-type Pokémon soon cleared him, and so Red's disappearance was left unexplained. Nevertheless, Gold still retained a sense of guilt for having accidentally lead to the disappearance of his hero, and he continued to hope that throughout his journeys in Hoenn and Sinnoh, he would discover that someone had seen or heard from Red, although his prayers went unanswered.

Now, looking upon the familiar face, Gold was so overcome by fear and confusion that there was no room left within him for relief at seeing that his hero, Red, was still alive. Although Red's face was still recognisable, it had grown pale to match the white, bleached-looking skin that covered most of his body, and all of his black hair was now gone. Gold also noticed that his eyes looked different somehow; there was a hateful, almost evil look in them which had not been there before. Aside from his head, the rest of his body was only vaguely recognisable as human, looking almost the same as the pictures Gold had seen of the Genetic Pokémon, Mewtwo; the only other noticeable difference was that he had two chords leading from his head to his back, in place of Mewtwo's one.

The three champions had heard from their regions' professors about Mewthree's origins as a human, and so Cynthia and Wallace, not recognising Red, did not look overly shocked. Lance, on the other hand, shared Gold's reaction, seeing in Mewthree the young trainer who had defeated him at Indigo Plateau. Giovanni laughed upon seeing the reaction of both Gold and Lance.

"Hahaha, so you recognise my new Pokémon?" he asked, although the answer was clear.

"… Red?" Gold said, not wanting to believe what he was seeing.

_Long time no see, Gold,_ came the voice inside the heads of everyone in the stadium, as Mewthree projected its thoughts.

"What happened to you?" Gold asked, "Why are you working with Giovanni?"

_After you defeated me, Master Giovanni found me, took me in, looked after me,_ he replied, _I was the most powerful trainer, and you took that away from me, so my master promised that he would help me to become the greatest once again. Now, I am the most powerful Pokémon, the most powerful Pokémon trainer in the world!_

"I found Red lying on Mt. Silver, all those years ago," Giovanni continued with a cruel smile, "And was touched by the story of how you had so recklessly knocked him from the mountain in your desperation to win. So, in return for helping him regain his position as the world's greatest Pokémon trainer, he agreed to become my most powerful weapon."

_The transformation was so excruciating,_ Mewthree continued, _but my hatred for you, my drive to utterly defeat you, sustained me._

Gold could hardly believe what he was hearing, shocked at such professions of hate coming from the trainer he so admired. Surely this couldn't be the same person he had battled all those years ago?

"Anyway, enough talk," Giovanni said matter-of-factly, "We should be getting this battle underway, so choose your first Pokémon. Our audience is waiting."

His hand shaking as he tried hard to focus on the battle which was about to begin, Gold reached for the first Poké Ball on his belt, throwing it weakly onto the field.

"A-ambipom, go!" he shouted.

Almost before Ambipom was out of his Poké Ball, Mewthree was rushing towards him. Before Gold or Ambipom even had time to react, Mewthree had struck him with Sky Uppercut, sending him flying up into the air. Flipping in midair, Ambipom managed to send a Swift attack raining down on his opponent, who seemed barely to feel the blow as it blocked the rays with its forearm. Ambipom didn't even get a chance at a second attack, as no sooner had he landed than Mewthree was almost on top of him, balancing on its tail and spinning into him with Triple Kick. The Long Tail Pokémon was knocked unconscious, however as Gold recalled his Pokémon, he thought he had noticed something – Ambipom had been totally defenceless as he had fallen to the ground, and yet only two of Mewthree's three kicks had hit their mark. Could the seemingly unbeatable Pokémon finally be getting tired?

Trying to capitalise on this possibility by not giving Mewthree a chance to react, Gold instantly sent out his next Pokémon.

"Politoed, Whirlpool!" he shouted as the Frog Pokémon emerged onto the field.

A swirling torrent of water erupted from Politoed's mouth, engulfing Mewthree in a rushing vortex. Hoping that this attack would trap and disorient his opponent for a few moments, Gold immediately ordered Politoed to follow up with a DynamicPunch. Throwing all of his weight behind his tightly-clenched fist, Politoed leapt towards the whirlpool and aimed his punch right into the middle. As the punch connected, the vortex exploded, drenching Gold and Giovanni. Wiping the water out of his eyes, Gold cracked a brief smile, sure that Politoed's attack must have done some damage; however, when he could see again, he realised how wrong he was. Mewthree was gripping Politoed's fist with its own, holding him suspended in midair, Gold's Pokémon too shocked to try and escape.

"Thunderbolt," Giovanni commanded simply.

A surge of electricity ran down Mewthree's arm and coursed through Politoed's body, causing him to convulse as Mewthree released its grip. Politoed fell to the ground, still twitching as electricity sparked off of him; his paralysis left him wide open to Mewthree's Karate Chop, which came down hard on his stomach, the pain rendering him unconscious.

Gold tried his best to keep up the pressure on Mewthree, sending out his Pokémon in quick succession with a continuous stream of attacks. This strategy appeared to pay off, as each subsequent Pokémon was able to land more attacks on the slowing Mewthree; Gold noticed that Mewthree's attacks were becoming less and less accurate, albeit retaining their power, and that it was not healing the wounds it had sustained. Despite the fact that it was obviously weakening, Mewthree nevertheless continued knocking out Gold's Pokémon, until eventually only one remained, the last barrier between freedom and Giovanni's conquest of the whole country. Red took the Poké Ball from his belt and prepared to throw it.

"It's all up to you now, Typhlo-"

Before Gold could call out his last Pokémon, however, the whole stadium was rocked by a violent earthquake. Gold held on to Typhlosion's Poké Ball tightly with one hand, while using the guard rail of his platform to retain his balance. Giovanni, also holding onto the rail, looked infuriated.

"What is going on?" he roared above the rumble of the earthquake.

Looking around him, Gold noticed the three champions standing beside his platform. Lance and Wallace were desperately trying to retain their balance, but Cynthia hardly seemed to notice the earthquake, perfectly balanced while staring up at the sky.

"He's coming," she said, almost to herself.

Looking up, Gold saw what Cynthia was looking at – a swirling black hole in the sky, gradually growing larger.


	17. Chapter Sixteen

The earthquake which shook the stadium atop Mt. Silver lasted for a full minute before finally subsiding, and during this time everyone in the arena had finally become aware of the gaping black hole in the sky, rimmed with purple and getting bigger with each passing second. Although Cynthia was the only one of the assembled trainers to have witnessed this phenomenon first-hand, the others had seen pictures of its previous appearance in Sinnoh seven years ago.

"The Distortion World?" Lance wondered aloud.

Cynthia turned towards the Dragon master and nodded, before turning her gaze back to the sky. The portal had stopped growing larger but continued to slowly ripple and rotate and, as everyone watched, it began to distort, bending outwards. Like a Water-type Pokémon breaking the surface of a lake in slow motion, something slowly broke through the hole and began to descend towards the stadium. The huge Pokémon was long and serpentine, grey-, black- and red-striped, with yellow spines along each side of its body, and long, black, spike-tipped tentacles extending from behind its neck. Yellow claws ran along the sides of its neck, and a yellow, mask-like formation of plates covered its face and head. The assembled Pokémon trainers recognised this behemoth as Giratina, the Renegade Pokémon. As the beast came to rest just above the middle of the stadium, the trainers noticed the person standing on its back, a blue haired man wearing a grey and black, spacesuit-like uniform, holding an octahedral object the size of a melon, with the colour and texture of Giratina's head plates. The man turned to face Giovanni for a moment, wearing a grin even crueller than the Team Rocket boss's had been just minutes before. This look was only momentary, however, as he then looked up at the Magneton, which were still carrying their cameras around the stadium, with a much kinder look on his face.

"People of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Sinnoh," he said loudly, addressing the cameras, "My name is Cyrus, and I come to offer you salvation! This man, this self-proclaimed emperor, intends to use his terrible creation to make you all his servants. I swear to bring you a future free from his tyranny, to return liberty to you all! Charon, if you would be so kind, restrain that foul creature."

As Cyrus had been making this address, Giovanni's initial shock had returned to anger, and he had commanded Mewthree to attack the newcomer. However, on Cyrus's command, a crimson beam shot from the middle of the stadium seating, wrapping itself around Mewthree and crystallising into a solid chain. Although it struggled to break its bonds, they merely tightened around its limbs and neck. As everyone looked towards the source of the chain, they saw a little old man standing cackling between the rows of seats – a man who Gold recognised from Cerulean Cave.

"As you can see, I have the power to make good on my promise," Cyrus continued, "Go about your lives without fear of Team Rocket; I shall punish any of their agents who seek to disrupt the peace any further. I shall also ensure that this tyrant is brought to justice."

As he said this, Cyrus pointed at Giovanni, whispering something under his breath. The orb in his hands glowed with yellow light, and his Pokémon gave a bellowing roar which shook the whole stadium. The force of the attack – which Gold recognised as Hyper Voice – knocked everyone present to the floor. The Magneton around the arena were knocked out by the blow, falling to the ground and releasing their cameras, which were smashed to pieces by the fall. Now that the eyes of the whole country were no longer on him, Cyrus's face regained its cruel expression.

"You have fulfilled your role admirably, my servant," he said, "But now it is time for me to take command."  
As Gold pulled himself to his feet, he thought at first that Cyrus was addressing Charon, but was surprised to see that his gaze was directed at Giovanni.

"I? Your servant?" the Rocket boss asked, as he, too, got to his feet, "What is this nonsense?"

"Do you think you would have reached this point were it not for me?" Cyrus shouted, "Do you think you would even be alive were it not for me? You had given up and thrown yourself into that waterfall in despair, where you would have perished had I not reignited your hope and ambition. You would never have found this Pokémon trainer lying close to death on the mountainside, had I not planted the idea of a flight around the mountain in your head."

"You? Control me? Hah, impossible!" Giovanni shouted, though his voice betrayed a shadow of doubt.

"You poor, weak-minded fool," Cyrus continued, shaking his head, "For five years you have been my pawn, rebuilding your pathetic criminal band and creating your ultimate weapon only upon my command. You have brought this whole country to its knees solely so that I may execute my own plan while their will is weak. You shall soon see the birth of my new world, and the death of yours!"

The former Team Galactic boss then turned to Gold and the three champions.

"You, however, shall not live to see my triumph. My servant has defeated your Pokémon, there is no way you can stand against me. Begone!"

Once again, Cyrus whispered something under his breath, causing the orb in his hands to glow. Giratina drew back its head, blue flames building in its mouth, before it unleashed a stream of blue, draconic energy towards the platform Gold was standing on. Gold leapt over the railings and sheltered behind the platform as it was dissolved by the powerful Dragon Pulse.

Cynthia quickly sprang into action. In one motion, she unclipped a thin chain, concealed by her fur collar, from around her neck, and caught the Poké Ball which dropped out from under her long hair. She threw the Poké Ball to the ground, calling out her Garchomp and grabbing onto her arm, before urging Gold to come over.

"Everyone grab on!" she called.

Gold ran over and grabbed Garchomp's arm too, as Lance and Wallace also took hold. Just as Giratina was firing off another Dragon Pulse at the trainers, Garchomp dived at the rock floor of the arena, quickly digging a passage down through the earth as the ground exploded above them. Looking back, Gold saw that Garchomp was kicking out dirt as she dug, blocking the tunnel behind them and leaving them in darkness; he also felt that the path they took twisted, looped and doubled back in an erratic manner. After a couple of minutes of digging, Gold felt a rush of cool air as Garchomp broke through the ceiling of a cave. Landing on the cave floor ten feet below, Garchomp's passengers let go and took in their surroundings.

The cave was lit by electric lights, the wires hooked up to an Eelektross sitting against a wall, eating from a bowl of Pokémon food. Another wire from the EleFish Pokémon connected up to a machine which Gold recognised as a Pokémon Centre-grade healing system. A network of Metang and Metagross were linking arms around the cave, their eyes glowing blue and their faces set in concentration. Standing in the middle of the room, a few feet from Garchomp and the Pokémon trainers, was a smartly-dressed man with light-blue hair, a large black briefcase on the ground beside him. Wallace smiled as he recognised the man before them, who smiled back before turning towards Cynthia.

"So you finally made it," he said.

"Thank you for coming, Steven," the champion of Sinnoh replied.


	18. Chapter Seventeen

Cynthia returned Garchomp to her Poké Ball and made her way towards the Pokémon healing machine. As she pressed a button on the side of the console, a panel on the side of the machine slid away, revealing several shelves identical to the tray on top.

"Everyone put your Poké Balls into this machine," Cynthia said, addressing the other two champions and Gold, "We have to heal all of our Pokémon before we make our next move."

"Won't Cyrus be able to find us in here while they're healing?" Gold asked as he and the three champions placed their Poké Balls onto the shelves of the machine.

"My Metang and Metagross are shielding this chamber with Light Screen and Reflect," Steven explained, "They won't be able to find us here."

"Besides," Cynthia continued, "Cyrus and Giratina expended a lot of energy just crossing the barrier between dimensions. They'll most likely be resting for now."

"You seem to know an awful lot about this situation," Lance said to Cynthia, "I think you'd better tell us what exactly is going on."

Sinnoh's champion nodded, drawing a photograph from her inside pocket and showing it to the others. It seemed to show a stone surface with strange symbols carved onto it. They reminded Gold of the writings in the Ruins of Alph, but they were somehow different.

"As Gold may remember," she began, "I have spent a lot of time researching the Sinjoh Ruins north of Johto. Some years ago, shortly after Cyrus's attempt to destroy this universe and create his own, I came across this inscription in one of the Ruins' deepest chambers. After some research in the Canalave City library, I discovered that this script is an example of the ancient language from which our current language evolved. Eventually, I managed to translate it, and discovered the words to be a prophecy."

Turning the photograph over, Cynthia revealed a few sentences written by hand in silver ink, in a style which Gold recognised from the letter on his bedside table at home, and the note Bill had received.

_The man with the black heart shall return atop the mountain of white gold._

_Watching from beyond, he shall forge the weapon of the middle path._

_The power of the mythical beasts alone can bring this world's salvation._

_The brothers in arms shall deal the final blow to the nightmare steed._

"When I finished translating the inscription," Cynthia continued when everyone had finished reading, "I soon figured out that the 'man with the black heart' referred to Cyrus; the phrase I translated as 'mythical beasts' is a specific reference to Dialga, Palkia and Giratina in the ancient language, and it was their power which Cyrus wanted to use to create his new world. My Pokémon and I kept watch on Mt. Silver, the 'mountain of white gold', to wait for signs of his return. When I saw Giovanni take Red away after his battle with Gold, I initially followed them believing that Giovanni was planning to revive Team Rocket. When I caught wind of what they had planned for Red, however, I realised that he was destined to be the 'weapon of the middle path', becoming both human and Pokémon. I watched the horrific experiments they performed on Red, and Lucario confirmed that he was surrounded by a malign aura from the Distortion World, replacing his noble nature with a cruel and sadistic one."

"If you saw what was happening, why didn't you stop them from experimenting on Red?" Gold asked, "That way this could all have been avoided."

Cynthia shook her head.

"If I had interfered, it would only have delayed Cyrus's plans," she explained, "The normal rules of time and space don't apply in the Distortion World, so if I had stopped Giovanni from creating Mewthree, Cyrus would have realised his plan had been discovered, and he would have watched and waited, perhaps until thousands of years in the future, in a time when this age is the stuff of legends and no-one is ready to stop him. That is the reason I told no-one about what I had learned, and continued to watch events unfold alone, acting from the shadows."

"When Mewthree attacked Cinnabar Island," Gold said, "You saved me, didn't you?"

"I did," Cynthia replied, nodding, "I was also there when it attacked you and Volkner in Sunyshore City. As you were the only one who had managed to defeat Red in the past, I thought that you would one day be instrumental in defeating him again."

Thinking back to the events of the previous week, Gold recalled Platinum saying that Mewthree had been driven off by Stone Edge, an attack he remembered being in Cynthia's Garchomp's repertoire. It also occurred to him that it must also have been Cynthia's Lucario who lead him out of Cerulean Cave.

"In any case," Lance said, cutting in on Gold's recollections, "How do we stop Cyrus? If the prophecy says we have to use the power of Dialga, Palkia and Giratina, does that mean we have to summon them somehow?"

"The last time Dialga and Palkia were summoned, the damage to space-time nearly tore this world apart, as Cyrus intended," Cynthia explained, "And no doubt he plans to summon them again and do the same this time. However, as the prophecy only mentions using the power of the mythical beasts, rather than the beasts themselves, I believe it refers to the three space-time orbs."

"Heh, that explains why you called me here," Steven said, kneeling down to the briefcase beside him and undoing the many locks sealing it. Pulling it open, the trainers saw two large objects inside – one looked like the pearl of an enormous Shellder, while the other looked like a cut diamond with many faces.

"Being a collector of rare and precious stones," Steven explained, "I spent many months searching Mt. Coronet for fossils and gems for my collection. One day, upon returning to my villa in the Resort Area, I found a note giving directions to a cave deep in the mountain which, with caution, I followed. When I arrived, I found these two orbs – the Adamant Orb and the Lustrous Orb – hidden behind a strong stone door, inscribed with ancient writing. I put them on display with the rest of my collection at my museum in Rustboro City, until a few days ago when I received a summons written in the same hand as the note telling me where to find the orbs. Although a little suspicious, my curiosity drew me to this cave, where Cynthia met me and instructed me to protect the cave and bring the orbs, although she was unable to give me the reason at the time. When I saw Giovanni's television broadcast the next day, I had a feeling it was to protect the orbs from him, but after seeing Cyrus appear just now, I figured there was more to it."

Steven took a palm-sized computer from his pocket which, although now displaying only static, had shown him the events which took place in the stadium a few minutes before.

"In that case, there remains just one problem, my friend," said Wallace, "If Cynthia says there are three space-time orbs, then we lack the final piece of the puzzle."

"The Griseous Orb," Cynthia explained, "The artefact containing the power of Giratina. We saw it before, in the hands of Cyrus. Only when the three orbs are together will the power of the Adamant and Lustrous Orbs be sufficiently amplified to seal the rift between this world and the Distortion World forever."

"So, we have to steal the orb from him?" asked Lance, "It'll be five against one, no problem."

"Five against two," Cynthia corrected him, "Don't forget that Cyrus is now controlling Mewthree using the Red Chain. That is why I suggest that Gold draws Mewthree and Charon away while the rest of us battle Giratina and Cyrus."

"Me?" Gold asked worriedly, "Every time I've battled Mewthree it's beaten me."

"Yes, but as I said, you are the only trainer who has managed to beat Red," Cynthia said, walking over to Gold and putting her hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry, the prophecy says that the brothers in arms, the champions, will deal the final blow against the nightmare steed, which must be Giratina. Once we defeat it, we can take the orb from Cyrus, and I can perform the ritual to close the rift."

Gold was still unsure as the trainers collected their Poké Balls from the machine, and Cynthia recalled her Eelektross. Steven resealed his briefcase and beckoned one of his Metagross over to him; as Steven laid the briefcase flat on the floor, the Iron Leg Pokémon levitated above the ground, lifted the briefcase to its underside with one of its legs, then clasped all four legs around it, holding the briefcase tight against its body.

"Gold, you saw for yourself that Mewthree is weakening," Cynthia said to him, seeing that he was still looking nervous, "Being trapped by the Red Chain will have weakened it further still. You were starting to gain the upper hand in the last battle; you can hold it at bay while we champions deal with Cyrus."

Summoning up all of his courage, Gold nodded.

"Let's do this!" he said with determination.

Cynthia called out her Garchomp, as everyone grabbed hold of the Pokémon's arms; Steven hopped on top of the Metagross carrying the briefcase. Garchomp leapt up to the cave's stone ceiling and started digging straight up through the black rock of Mt. Silver, with Steven following them through the resultant tunnel on his Metagross.


	19. Chapter Eighteen

After half a minute of digging, Garchomp erupted from the floor of the stadium in a shower of stone shards, closely followed by Metagross. The scene that greeted them was horrifying; Cyrus was still sitting atop Giratina, watching as Mewthree, under the control of Charon, repeatedly struck the prone Giovanni with a blunt blade of psychic energy which the trainers recognised as False Swipe. Each attack elicited a cry of agony from Giovanni, as Cyrus and Charon laughed. When Garchomp burst through the floor a few yards away from them, however, their attention was soon diverted.

"Hehehe, so you are finally ready to face your fate?" Cyrus asked them, his face contorted in a cruel grin.

The trainers responded by sending out their Pokémon; Cynthia and Steven were ready with Garchomp and Metagross, and Lance called out Dragonite while Wallace unleashed Milotic. Gold, knowing that he had to act as a diversion, brought out Togekiss. In unison, the three Champions and Steven directed their Pokémon to attack Giratina, while Gold hopped onto Togekiss's back and ordered him to use Aura Sphere on Mewthree. Giratina flinched at the force of the combined attacks, but this was only a brief reaction, as it soon launched a counterattack with Dragon Pulse. Charon wasn't quite fast enough to order Mewthree to protect itself, which in conjunction with its ongoing pain from the Red Chain, meant that it took the Aura Sphere square in the chest, taking a step back from the blow. Gold grinned at Mewthree and Charon, pulling his goggles over his eyes and ordering Togekiss to fly up and out of the stadium. Charon climbed up onto Mewthree's shoulders with deceptive speed and commanded it to follow Gold, infuriated that the young trainer had caught him off-guard. The two trainers and their Pokémon were soon out of sight of the stadium, obscured by the blizzard. Seeing this, Cynthia smiled to herself.

_You're playing your part_, she thought, _now we have to play ours._

Cyrus was so focused on his attackers that he barely seemed to notice Charon and Mewthree leaving his side. He laughed maniacally as he ordered Giratina to attack.

"Hahahaha! You think you can stop me?" he shouted as the Renegade Pokémon landed a mighty Earth Power attack on Wallace's Milotic, further scarring the stone floor of the stadium, "I have been waiting for millennia; a god such as I will NOT be stopped by a few puny humans!"

In spite of his apparent madness, Cyrus still managed to command Giratina expertly. Although it was obvious that the journey between dimensions had tired it somewhat, it was nevertheless a legendary Pokémon of formidable strength, and the presence of the Griseous Orb made it stronger still. Slowly but surely, the Champions' Pokémon were being knocked out…

Gold and Togekiss flew as fast as they could through the snowstorm, Gold constantly checking behind him to see that Mewthree was rapidly gaining on him.

"Togekiss, land on that peak over there," Gold called to his Pokémon over the noise of the storm, pointing at a nearby summit. As they approached, Gold leapt from the Jubilee Pokémon's back onto the snowy mountain and recalled him. A few seconds later, Mewthree was floating before him, Charon grinning as he leapt off of its shoulders onto the snow, still holding the end of the Red Chain.

"Decided to give up already, did you?" Charon asked.

"Heh, not a chance," Gold said, "I'm just getting warmed up."

As he said this, Gold grabbed Typhlosion's Poké Ball and hurled it in front of him, unleashing the roaring Volcano Pokémon. Drawing back his head, Typhlosion spat an immense, white-hot fireball in Mewthree's direction, melting a trench through the snow on the ground.

"Hydro Cannon!" Charon commanded.

Mewthree brought its hands up in front of it as they pulsed blue for a few seconds. Just before Typhlosion's Inferno attack hit its target, an enormous deluge of water erupted from Mewthree's hands, sending up a huge cloud of steam as the fireball was engulfed. Typhlosion and Gold were also knocked back by the blow, but got back to their feet while their opponent was recharging. The fact that the attack hadn't knocked Typhlosion out in one hit was proof enough for Gold that Mewthree had indeed been weakened by the continuous battles and the Red Chain. Once they were on their feet, Gold and Typhlosion were on the offensive again.

"Flamethrower!" Gold shouted.

Typhlosion's flames swam over Mewthree's body as it crossed its arms over its chest. When the flames subsided, Gold saw that it was standing in exactly the same stance, glowing with a pale blue light which he recognised as the effect of Calm Mind.

_That's odd,_ Gold thought, _it's increasing its special defence but it's not healing…_

Deciding to opt for a physical assault, Gold recalled Typhlosion and reached for another Poké Ball.

"Sudowoodo, DynamicPunch!"

The Imitation Pokémon emerged from his Poké Ball and hit the ground running, pulling back one rocky, club-shaped fist and hitting Mewthree in the stomach. Mewthree slid back through the snow a few feet, reeling from the blow. A couple of seconds later, however, it threw a punch of its own, a huge green Energy Ball blasting from out of its fist and exploding in Sudowoodo's face. Despite Gold's certainty that Mewthree was weakening, Calm Mind had apparently given it enough of a boost to knock out Sudowoodo in one hit, as the Rock-type collapsed on the ground.

Gold recalled his Pokémon, and looked over at his opponents. Charon still wore a grin, and Mewthree looked ready for more, but he could see its muscles twitching oddly all over its body. Every time this happened, he noticed that the Red Chain glowed slightly in response, still restraining Mewthree's body. Mewthree glanced back over its shoulder at its grinning captor, a look of rage burning in its eyes. Seeing all of this, a plan started to form in Gold's mind as he reached for his next Poké Ball.

"Let's go, Ambipom!" he shouted as the Long Tail Pokémon emerged.

Gold leant down and whispered a few words in Ambipom's ear. Nodding, he ran at Mewthree, the ends of both tails glowing white. Mewthree braced itself for the impact, taking up a Bide stance, as Ambipom threw himself at it. Spinning in midair, both tails hit Mewthree's chest in quick succession, and Ambipom landed on the ground in front of his opponent.

At first, nothing happened. Then, a loud sound like breaking glass was heard above the howling of the snowstorm, as a single link in the Red Chain was shattered by Ambipom's Rock Smash attack. One after the other, the rest of the links in the chain exploded, causing Mewthree's body to twitch as small shards of red stone embedded themselves painfully in his skin. Charon, unable to comprehend that his device had been broken, continued to hold his end of the chain in stunned silence until the links in his hand also shattered, eliciting a cry of pain from the scientist. Turning back to look at its former captor, Mewthree's eyes glowed blue once again as a blast of psychic power hurled Charon screaming through the blizzard and out of sight, still grasping his injured hand.

Gold recalled Ambipom, his hand hovering over Typhlosion's Poké Ball in case Mewthree tried to attack him again. Turning back towards Gold, however, it looked at him for a few seconds before falling forwards, blood slowly reddening the snow around it. Throwing caution to the wind, Gold ran towards the injured Mewthree, kneeling by its side to assess its wounds. Although its injuries didn't appear to be immediately life-threatening, it was clear that Mewthree was in a very serious condition, but Gold wasn't sure what to do. Should he take it to a Pokémon Centre or a hospital? What if it decided to attack the people there? And how were the Champions faring against Cyrus and Giratina?

Gold's thoughts were interrupted as he felt something squeezing his arm. Looking down, he saw that Mewthree was holding onto him with its right hand, and looking back up at him. Suddenly, it opened its mouth wide as if it were trying to scream, but instead Gold heard a loud, high-pitched ringing inside his head, more painful than the most powerful Metal Sound. It continued for a few seconds, and then ended as suddenly as it had begun. Still wincing from the pain, Gold looked back down at Mewthree again.

"Mewthr-… No, Red. What was that?" he asked.

_Ungh… I'm… calling him… Just like he told me to…_, came the reply inside Gold's mind.

At first, Gold was worried that it might be calling Cyrus, as he was sure he couldn't defeat Giratina on his own. Seeing the concern on Gold's face, Mewthree strengthened its grip on the young trainer's arm, and suddenly neither of them were on Mt. Silver anymore.

Gold looked around, wondering where he'd been transported to. The curtains of snow had been replaced by stone walls studded with dimly-glowing rocks, and the sound of the wind was now the torrential roar of white-water rapids. Mewthree was still kneeling on the ground beside him, clutching his arm, but three figures were now standing a few metres ahead of them. The one in the middle, the main source of light on the small island Gold found himself on, was a Pikachu. Close behind him, looking at the third figure, was a young boy wearing a baseball cap; Gold was shocked as he recognised Red, before his transformation. Kneeling on the floor before the trainer and his Pokémon was a purple, humanoid creature with a long tail, one which Gold had only seen in pictures. Upon seeing this creature, Gold knew exactly where he was – the Pokémon before him was Mewtwo, and so they must have been Cerulean Cave. However, if Red was standing there, and Mewthree was still beside him, that must mean they'd gone back in time, or perhaps…

"Is this your memory?" Gold whispered to Mewthree, who nodded in response.

Turning his attention back to the scene in front of him, Gold saw Red pulling something from his jacket pocket, a purple-and-white orb. A smile crossed Red's lips as he looked at the exhausted Mewtwo, and he drew his arm back to throw the Master Ball and capture the Genetic Pokémon.

_Wait!_, came a deep voice in Gold's head.

At first Gold thought it was Mewthree, but seeing that Red reacted to the command by lowering his arm, he realised that it must have been Mewtwo's voice. The Pokémon slowly raised its head to look at the trainer before it.

_I have seen your future,_ Mewtwo said, projecting its thoughts, _and great hardship lies ahead of you. Let me go free, and I shall find the means to release you from your pain on the day that you call for my aid._

Red still gripped the Master Ball, clearly unsure whether to trust his opponent.

_You have my word that I shall harm no-one else,_ Mewtwo continued, _I only wish to find my purpose in this world._

Red continued to stare down at the Genetic Pokémon for a few seconds, until finally he returned the Master Ball to his pocket and picked up his Pikachu. Mewtwo got to its feet gently, and glowed green as it healed itself with Recover. It briefly smiled at Red before flying off deeper into Cerulean Cave, quicker than Gold's eyes could follow.

_Perhaps I have truly found a kind human,_ came Mewtwo's voice, as the cave around Gold faded to white.

As suddenly as they had left Mt. Silver, Gold and Mewthree found themselves back in the blizzard once again. The puddle of blood around Mewthree was slowly getting bigger, and Gold desperately tried to decide on the best course of action. However, a few seconds after they had returned from Mewthree's memory, Gold became aware that someone was standing right behind him. Turning his head, Gold was met with the tall, intimidating figure of Mewtwo, only this time it was for real.


	20. Chapter Nineteen

Gold was frozen to the spot by Mewtwo's intimidating presence. Standing at two metres tall, it towered over the kneeling Gold and the barely-conscious Mewthree. Taking a few steps towards the pair, however, it knelt in the snow beside them and placed its three-fingered hand on Mewthree's forehead.

_Just relax,_ came the deep voice of the Genetic Pokémon, _you have been badly hurt._

Mewtwo's hand began to pulse with a pink light, as Mewthree's whole body took on a faint green glow. Slowly, the cuts on its body closed as the broken shards of the Red Chain were forced out of the closing wounds. Mewthree's eyes opened and it looked up at Mewtwo, which kept its hand firmly on Mewthree's head. Mewtwo's eyes then glowed with a white light, and a faint white barrier appeared around the two Pokémon. Mewtwo turned to look at Gold.

_I have cast a Safeguard around us to negate the effects of the other world,_ it explained to him, _his mind is now his own again._

Mewthree slowly got to its feet, as Mewtwo removed its hand from Mewthree's forehead and did the same. Mewthree's face, which normally wore a look of either indifference or cruelty, now had an expression of horror.

_What… what have I done?_, it asked, _My… where are my Pokémon?_

_You have been under the control of that despicable human, _Mewtwo replied, _so you cannot be blamed for what you have done. As for your Pokémon, Team Rocket took possession of them, so I do not know where they are now. When all of this is over, I will aid you in your search for them._

Mewthree looked over its shoulder in the direction of the stadium, then turned back to Mewtwo and Gold.

_What can I do to put things right?,_ it asked.

_We will end this together, _Mewtwo explained. _Since our last meeting, I have travelled this world, trying to find my purpose._ _Remembering our encounter, I began to question whether humans were all as evil as the ones who created me. During my travels, I saw humans performing many acts of kindness towards their own kind and towards Pokémon, and I came to realise they are generally a good species; like Pokémon, there are only a small minority who are truly evil. I therefore have no regrets in fulfilling my promise to help you, as the one who first showed me the goodness of humanity._

Saying this, it took hold of Mewthree's arm, and both Pokémon began to glow with a purple light.

_While in the Sinnoh region,_ Mewtwo continued, _I encountered a Pokémon from another world, another lost soul like myself. It taught me the most powerful Psychic technique known to any Pokémon. With this, we can defeat that man and the Pokémon from the other world._

After finishing its explanation, Mewtwo released its hold on Mewthree's arm. Mewthree clenched its fists a few times, as they flashed with psychic energy, before looking back at Mewtwo.

_Are you ready?,_ Mewtwo asked.

Mewthree nodded, before turning towards Gold. To his surprise, it wore the smile that he had seen once before, during their battle on the same mountain all those years ago.

_Thank you, Gold, _it said, _I truly enjoyed battling you._

With that, Mewthree flew off at speed, back towards the stadium, with Mewtwo close behind. Gold quickly called out his Togekiss and followed them as fast as his Pokémon could carry him.

Cyrus laughed as each champion called out their last Pokémon. Lance, Wallace, Steven and Cynthia were all exhausted, but Cyrus and Giratina were showing little evidence of fatigue. Steven, whose Metagross was still holding the Adamant and Lustrous Orbs, was trying his best to draw Giratina's attacks, assuming that Cyrus would be trying to take the orbs for use in the creation of his new world; using himself as bait would allow the other champions to catch Giratina and Cyrus off-guard. However, they had not counted on Cyrus's madness, born from thousands of years in the Distortion World. Rather than attacking Steven in pursuit of the orbs, he was attacking them all, seemingly at random, with a variety of powerful attacks. Despite their best efforts, the champions were unable to knock the orb from Cyrus's grasp from a distance, and had resorted to trying to snatch it from him physically. Cynthia was riding her last Pokémon, Togekiss, and making quick passes close to Cyrus with ExtremeSpeed, but he always managed to dodge out of the way at the last minute and counterattack. At length, a Dragon Pulse knocked Cynthia and Togekiss to the ground, and brought the other champions running to her defence. Cyrus and Giratina advanced on them, Cyrus's evil laughter echoing in the stadium.

"Hahahahaha! Not even the great champions can stand before my might!" he shouted, "Now you shall die!"

Once again the Griseous Orb in his hands glowed brightly, and Giratina drew back its head as the blue flames of DragonBreath danced in and around its mouth. With a roar, it spat the flames towards the champions on the ground before it, as they took up defensive stances to block the attack. However, as the DragonBreath was about to hit them, a massive gust of wind rushed through the stadium, dissipating the flames. At the same instant, a Shadow Ball came out of nowhere and hit Giratina hard in the side of the head, eliciting a loud cry of pain from the Renegade Pokémon. Cyrus looked around in surprise.

"Who dares to defy me!?" he roared.

His question was answered by another barrage of attacks, seemingly coming from the top of the stadium. Giratina loosed a Flamethrower attack right around the rim of the arena, but the attacks kept coming.

"Show yourself!" Cyrus ordered.

As soon as the words left his mouth, the attacks stopped. Everyone in the stadium was looking around, trying to see who or what had been attacking Giratina. Then, without warning, a shape shot from out of the sky with incredible speed, hitting Cyrus hard in the side. With a shout of pain, he was sent flying from Giratina's back, hitting the floor hard. In his place, on Giratina's back, sat Mewthree, who now held an Electroweb around Giratina's neck, keeping it restrained. As it struggled against the web, a strange wave of energy came down on it from above, causing it to fall to the floor in pain, unable to keep itself afloat any longer. As the champions looked up to see where the attack had come from, they saw Mewtwo descending into the arena, the psychic energy of Psystrike flowing from its hand.

Now that Cyrus had been knocked from Giratina's back, Cynthia picked herself up from the ground and ran over to the fallen Team Galactic boss. Grabbing hold of the Griseous Orb, she pulled hard in an attempt to wrench it from Cyrus's grasp; however, he held onto it tightly, refusing to let go as his insane laughter continued.

"Haha! You'll never beat me! Hahahahaha!"

After struggling for several seconds to take the orb from him, Cynthia kicked Cyrus hard in the ribs, finally causing him to relinquish his grip on it. As she ran towards Steven, who was unpacking the other two orbs from the suitcase, Cyrus got painfully to his feet and chased after her, screaming incoherently. However, he was knocked to the ground again by an Aura Sphere hitting the floor in front of him. Looking for the source of the attack, he saw Gold swooping down on Togekiss, putting himself between Cyrus and the champions. With a look of rage, he tried to run around Gold, but the young trainer kept dodging in front of him to block his way.

Cynthia placed the Griseous Orb on the ground before her and, taking the other two orbs from the suitcase, arranged all three in the shape of a large triangle. Standing in the middle of the triangle, she started to speak in a language which none of the others present could understand, and danced between the three orbs in a gentle motion. The orbs started to glow, a beam of light travelling from each orb to its companions to form a triangle of light. The light from each orb then shot up towards the sky, into the heart of the portal to the Distortion World. As the light intensified, and Cynthia's dancing became faster, the portal start to shrink.

Above the noise of Mewtwo and Mewthree's struggle against Giratina, a loud, blood-curdling scream was heard throughout the stadium. The other champions turned towards the source of the sound, and saw Cyrus lying on the floor, thrashing around convulsively as though he was having a seizure. As the portal in the sky grew smaller and smaller, Cyrus's body began to age and decay; in seconds he looked like an old man. When the portal had completely disappeared, and the light from the three space-time orbs had faded, the skeletal remains of Cyrus exploded in a small cloud of dust.

The disgust of Gold and the champions was short-lived, however; with the portal to its home sealed, Giratina's resistance to Mewtwo and Mewthree grew more powerful, and with a snapping sound it broke free of Mewthree's Electroweb. Flying around the stadium, it began attacking everything in a frenzy, occasionally letting out a strange, eerie roar; each time it did, the sky above rippled unnaturally.

"It's trying to reopen the portal!" Cynthia shouted, "If it succeeds while it's in this rage, it'll tear space-time apart!"

The trainers all commanded their Pokémon to attack Giratina, but at this provocation its attacks on them grew stronger, and the Pokémon were all knocked out in a matter of seconds. As Gold recalled his unconscious Togekiss, he saw Giratina staring down at Mewtwo and Mewthree on the other side of the stadium. The two Pokémon looked at each other and nodded, as their bodies began to glow with a bright purple light. Seeing this, Giratina charged them, its body taking on the powerful aura of Giga Impact. When it was mere inches from the other two Pokémon, the purple light erupted from their bodies with a loud noise like an explosion. The entire stadium was filled with intense white light, the force of the attack knocking everyone in the stadium unconscious.


	21. Chapter Twenty

Gold awoke to find Wallace gently shaking him. Opening his eyes, he soon had to start squinting against the bright light of day; the ever-present dark clouds and snowstorm above Mt. Silver had disappeared, allowing the sunlight to stream into the stadium.

"What happened?" Gold asked, sitting up.

"It's over," Wallace said, smiling, "We won."

After Wallace had helped Gold to his feet, the two of them made their way over to the other champions. Steven was talking to the International Police on his pocket computer, explaining that it was safe to arrest the Team Rocket grunts around the country and that their leader had been detained. Lance and Cynthia were watching over Giovanni, who was tightly bound by Cynthia's Eelektross, recently healed with a Max Revive taken from Giovanni's pocket. Looking around, Gold could see no sign of Giratina, Mewtwo or Mewthree.

"What happened to the others?" Gold asked Wallace.

"When the rest of us came around, they were nowhere to be seen," Wallace replied, "Maybe they flew away before we awoke, or perhaps the force of the attacks colliding was too much for them."

The possibility of Mewthree having given up its life brought a tear to Gold's eye.

"I guess they were the 'brothers in arms' from the prophecy, after all," Wallace said, looking up at the sky.

The next few weeks were incredibly hectic for Gold. After spending a few hours having his injuries checked at the hospital in Viridian City, he was approached by agents of the International Police asking for statements concerning the battle atop Mt. Silver. Thanks to the information Gold gave them, they found Charon on the side of the mountain, unconscious and half-frozen. Once he had regained consciousness, he was arrested and incarcerated in the same prison as Giovanni. Although Gold was called as a witness at their trial, this was purely a formality; the evidence was stacked against them, and they were both sentenced to spend the rest of their lives behind bars.

As he was in the Kanto region, Gold decided to take a small detour before going home. A short trip on the Magnet Train brought him to Cerulean City, after which he soon found himself outside Cerulean Cave once again. He was stopped by two police officers at the entrance, but after explaining who he was, his involvement in the Mewthree incident allowed him access into the cave for a look around. The wild Pokémon which Team Rocket had caged had been moved to Fuchsia City's Pal Park nature reserve while the police investigation was ongoing, so the officers were able to walk freely about the cave, boxing up evidence and taking photographs for reference. Heading straight to the back of the cave, Gold entered the makeshift laboratory where he had seen Mewthree the last time he came here. A single police officer was collecting up scattered research papers and scientific print-outs, being very careful not to trip into the gaping hole in the ground; when Gold offered to help her with her work, she gladly accepted. As he was picking up one particular stack, however, he noticed a small piece of paper slip to the floor. Leaning down to pick it up, Gold saw that it was a photograph; a young boy wearing a red jacket and blue jeans was laying down on a metal operating table, apparently unconscious. Turning it over, Gold saw written in untidy handwriting:

_Project Mewthree – test subject prior to first implantation experiment_

Realising that this was probably the final record of Red before his horrific transformation, Gold returned the photograph to its pile and left the cave, trying to hold back the tears. In an attempt to keep his mind off of his old hero, he decided to pay a visit to Sea Cottage. Seeing that Gold was rather upset, Bill questioned him only briefly on the events of the past few days as they sat down for some tea with Hannah and Celio, who was still in Kanto while working with his friend on some improvements to the Pokémon Storage System. The group spent a few hours talking about all manner of things, and Gold was soon smiling again. When the sun started to sink below the horizon, however, Gold decided he had better head back home.

Having been a part of the battles with Mewthree, Gold became the centre of intense media interest, just like when he had beaten the Pokémon League at Indigo Plateau. Even when he returned to New Bark Town to visit his Mom and escape the reporters, he was plagued by visits from Professor Elm, asking endless questions about Mewthree and Giratina in order to 'aid his research'. However, given that Elm's area of research was Pokémon breeding, Gold guessed that the professor merely wanted to get information out of him before his peers beat him to it. After a few days of being hassled by Elm and the press, Gold started trying to decide on a place where he could go to get away from it all. Then, one morning, as if by fate, his Pokégear began to ring.

Gold flopped down onto the sandy beach of the Seafoam Islands with a contented sigh; a few seconds later, Platinum sat down beside him. After seeing that the reconstruction in Sinnoh was well underway, Professor Rowan and Platinum had decided to fly out to Tohjo and see the effect Mewthree had had on the area, having been involved in the affair from the beginning. Professor Rowan had called Gold while on their helicopter flight to Tohjo, asking for a debriefing on the situation, a request which was readily granted. After stopping in New Bark Town to pick up Gold, the trio made their way to Cinnabar Island, where the inhabitants were beginning to rebuild the destroyed structures. Newly released from hospital, although still in a wheelchair for the time being, Blaine was overseeing the recreation of his Gym, with plans to make it even better than before. When Blaine offered to show the professor the extent of the damage around the island, Platinum pulled Gold aside and took him back to the helicopter, where she asked her dad to fly them to the Seafoam Islands for a while to enjoy the sunset; although Platinum had never been to Kanto before, she had seen pictures of some of its beautiful scenery, and decided to take the opportunity to watch the sun setting over the ocean, as well as to escape the hustle and bustle of Cinnabar Island. Now, as the two of them sat on the beach, Gold could see why she had wanted to come here; despite having been to the Seafoam Islands a few times before, he had never taken the time to sit and watch the sunset, having always been more concerned with training his Pokémon inside the caves. As the sun began to sink below the waves, the sky and its handful of fluffy clouds were tinged a deep crimson. The two sat in silence for a while, admiring the view.

"So what will you do now?" Platinum asked, "Are you still planning on going to Unova?"  
"Yeah," Gold replied, "Once things settle down a bit here, I'll catch the next ferry from Olivine City. Will you head back to Sandgem Town?"

Platinum nodded.

"There's going to be a conference about the whole Mewthree incident in a few weeks," she explained, "And having researched it directly, Professor Rowan agreed to host the conference and share his findings from Sunyshore City. Maybe you should come too, Gold. I'm sure everyone would value your input."

"I don't think I could face it," Gold said, shaking his head, "I can't bear to think too much about Mewthree right now, not if it… if Red might be…"

Gold trailed off, trying to maintain his composure.

"At least he regained his senses in the end," Platinum said, "Red and Mewtwo saved the world, so we owe them both a great debt."

The two of them sat for a while in silent contemplation, before Platinum stood up and dusted the sand from her skirt.

"It's almost night-time, we should be heading back to Cinnabar Island now," she said to Gold.

As Gold got up and walked to Platinum's side, the pair of them took one more glance back out at the setting sun. As they did, Gold spotted a couple of shapes flying out from behind a cloud just above the horizon. As they floated in front of the sun for a few seconds, he could just make out two humanoid figures before they darted off again behind another cloud, their tails streaming out behind them. Gold quickly turned to Platinum, wondering if she had seen them too, but the expression of surprise on her face was all the answer he needed. With a beaming smile, he looked out over the ocean one last time.

"Thank you," he said under his breath, before heading back up the beach.


	22. Epilogue

Gold stepped off of the S.S. Aqua's ramp onto the paved pier; after a fortnight at sea, he had finally arrived at Castelia City in Unova. Even the pictures he had seen of the city didn't diminish the awe he felt as he gazed up at the massive skyscrapers, dwarfing those of both Goldenrod City and Saffron City. Despite his desire to instantly explore the immense city, he first turned his steps to the Pokémon Centre, as he had been engaging in many casual Pokémon battles with other passengers throughout the cruise. As the Pokémon Centre was clearly signposted, he found his way there in no time, and once his Pokémon had been healed he made his way further into the city via Mode Street, where he decided to try one of Unova's specialties – the Casteliacone. Ice cream in hand, he headed north until he reached the city's central plaza, sitting down on a bench and looking out across the beautiful parkland to the large fountain at its centre. It was now the height of summer, so the plaza was crowded with people, from couples taking a romantic walk to children playing with Pokémon as their parents watched over them. The Pokémon in particular caught Gold's eye – having never been to Unova before, most of them were entirely unfamiliar to him, which filled him with fresh excitement as he wondered what his latest adventure had in store for him. In a few hours, he was meant to be meeting a girl called Bianca, the aide of the local Pokémon professor, Aurea Juniper. Bianca was supposed to escort him to Nuvema Town, where the professor would register Gold in Unova's Pokémon League. From there, he would travel to Striaton City and challenge the newly-reopened gym. And then…

As he was daydreaming, Gold was stirred from his reverie when he realised that a person was walking towards him from out of the crowd. The man appeared to be only a few years older than Gold, and about as tall, with long green hair tied back in a loose ponytail beneath a baseball cap. In his arms he carried a Pikachu, whose ears and nose twitched as it watched Gold. Gold stood up as the man walked up to him with a smile.

"My friend tells me that you know of the one who is both human and Pokémon," the man said hurriedly.


End file.
